Jammu: Almost all political parties in Jammu, including the Congress, on Wednesday opposed the move to postpone assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, in course of their discussions with Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi, who had come here to assess the situation.
The senior EC official will discuss postponement with the ruling National Conference and main opposition PDP leaders in Srinagar today.
The Jammu-based parties argued that democratic process should not be stalled in the name of rescue and relief operations that have been undertaken after the disastrous flood last month.
The final decision on postponement of poll will be taken by the full-fledged three-member Election Commission.
Representatives from Congress, BJP, National Panthers Party, BSP, NCP and the CPI met the ECI team here.
Congress leaders Thakur Hari Singh and Janak Raj Gupta told the EC that the assembly polls should be held in time. Both the electoral process and rehabilitation work can go on simultaneously, they said.
BJP leaders Bali Bhagat and Kavinder Gupta also told the EC that the polls should be held in time, and there was no reason to postpone.
Panthers Party leader Harsh Dev Singh and BSP leader Tulsi Dass Langesh also told the EC that they were against postponement of polls.
Earlier, Zutshi had a video conference with the Deputy Commissioners of all 10 districts of Jammu province. and got feedback from them.
The term of the 87-member J&K Assembly ends on January 19.
