Lok Sabha Elections 2024: NC Srinagar candidate claims party workers arrested ahead of polling

Srinagar: National Conference candidate for the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency Aga Ruhullah Mehdi on Sunday demanded immediate release of workers of his party and rival PDP who he claimed have been arrested ahead of the polling.

Voting in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency is scheduled on Monday.

"Our workers are being picked up by the police since yesterday. I got a call from a senior colleague like A R Rather sb informing me about the arrests of our workers from Chrarsharif. Similar calls from the colleagues from Khansahab and Chadoora. Would the @ECISVEEP please care to explain these arrests," Mehdi, an influential Shia leader, posted on X.

He called for immediate release of his party workers and also those of the PDP.

PDP leader Firdous Tak also took to social media, calling for an end to the alleged arrests and harassment of his party workers.

PDP candidate for Srinagar Lok Sabha seat Waheed Para on Saturday alleged that some officials in the Jammu and Kashmir administration were trying to manipulate the Lok Sabha polls.

Without naming anyone, Para -- a youth leader of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) -- said the events are akin to the 'rigging' of elections in 1987.

The 1987 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections are widely perceived to have been rigged, with the Farooq Abdullah-led National Conference sweeping the polls.

In another post, Para alleged police had arrested his party's polling agents.

"Sad to see police arresting and unlawfully detaining polling agents of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party in the central Kashmir parliament constituency," he said.

Officials have refused to comment on the allegations levelled by the NC and PDP leaders.