Two former Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Friday appealed to the Election Commission of India against deferring polls on the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat.

Both Omar Abdullah, Vice President of National Conference, and  PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti while addressing separate press conferences in Srinagar and Surankote issued this appeal after the office of the Chief Election Commission directed the Chief Secretary, J&K, and the Chief Electoral Officer to furnish a detailed report on representations submitted by some parties and three candidates seeking rescheduling of elections in the constituency due to adverse weather conditions.

“I appeal to the EC that such a step should not be taken. The demand for postponement is not from all parties. The weird thing is that some of the people who have written to the EC are not contesting. If I write to the EC about constituencies in Tamil Nadu etc. will they take notice,” Omar said at a press conference in Srinagar.

Abdullah said “All options are open”, including legal recourse, for his party if the Election Commission decides to postpone the polls.

All options are open to us. First and foremost, we appeal to the Election Commission not to do it (postpone the elections). The Election Commission should issue a directive to the local administration to keep the road open,” he said.

Omar Abdullah said he failed to understand why anyone would seek postponement of an election based on the presumption that the road will be closed due to inclement weather.

The road is open today. Even if there is rain, it won’t be difficult to restore the road. Even if the road gets closed, our candidate is ready to go (to Poonch-Rajouri) by alternative road through Reasi,” he said.

“If they can keep the roads to Kargil, Keran, Machil and Gurez open, there is no reason why they can’t keep the Mughal road open,” he added.