FIR lodged against NC member for violating MCC in Ganderbal

Srinagar, Sep 7 (IANS) A case was registered against a National Conference (NC) member in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Saturday for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Former sarpanch and NC member Mohammad Ashraf Ghani allegedly used the word ‘murder’ in his speech during campaigning for the upcoming assembly elections in Kachan village of Ganderbal district. Ashraf reportedly used the word while speaking about those who do not respect the NC flag.

NC has fielded former chief minister and party vice-president Omar Abdullah from Ganderbal assembly constituency.

Ashraf hails from Peerpora village in Ganderbal, barely 3km from Kachan, where he allegedly delivered the provocative speech.

Reports said that Ashraf’s comments led to unrest in the area, which prompted the MCC nodal officer to take the violation seriously and call for strict action against Ashraf. An official said that legal action has been initiated and officials are reviewing the case for further action.

Meanwhile, NC provincial secretary Shaukat Ahmad Mir described Ashraf’s remarks as a “slip of the tongue”. Mir said there was no malicious intent behind the statement as he had urged the authorities to handle the matter with care, suggesting that an FIR was not necessary.

Apart from Omar Abdullah, 23 other candidates are in the fray in Ganderbal, including PDP’s Bashir Ahmad Mir, Ishfaq Jabbar (Independent), Congress’ Sahil Farooq and Sarjan Ahmad Wagay alias Azadi Chacha, who filed his nomination from jail. During scrutiny of papers, all 24 nominations, including that of Sarjan Ahmad, were found valid.

According to the agreement between the Congress and National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference will contest 52 seats and the Congress 31 seats, while two seats have been left for the CPI-M in the Valley and the Panthers Party in the Jammu division.

The two alliance partners could not arrive at a consensus on the five seats of Sopore in the Valley and Nagrota, Doda, Bhaderwah and Banihal in Jammu division.

Both parties will field their candidates in these five constituencies and call it a ‘friendly contest’.

–IANS

SHK/GKT