National Conference and PDP join protests against election chief in Kashmir

National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party joined Congress-led protests in Kashmir on October 10. Participants demanded Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in voter lists.

The Hindu reported that dozens of activists, including women, assembled with party flags at Congress headquarters in Srinagar. Security forces did not permit their attempted march onto Lal Chowk’s streets.

Joint INDIA bloc demonstrations also took place in Ganderbal and Anantnag. Protester Gayas Ahmad described a peaceful gathering involving National Conference, PDP and CPI(M) supporters. He called for an inquiry into Kumar’s conduct and supported demands for his resignation.

The allegations of voter-list manipulation are the protesters’ position. The gatherings form part of the opposition campaign against the Special Intensive Revision and the election commission chief’s work.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti compared restrictions in Delhi with those imposed in Kashmir after the region’s special status was removed in 2019. Abdullah made his comparison on X on October 9, when mobile internet was restricted in parts of the capital.

Mufti argued that blocking access to protest sites and imposing other restrictions could allow authorities later to deny the scale of discontent. That is her political assessment of the security measures, rather than an established investigative finding.