EC adding to Kashmiris8217; alienation: Soz

He alleged the State Government had employed former-militants-turned-police officials as 8220;polling agents8221; as its own activists were too terror-stricken to volunteer for election work. Charging the EC with adopting double standards, Soz said, 8220;Election Commission has adopted a casual, sab chalta hai anything goes attitude in Kashmir.8221;

He further said: 8220;It appears as if the Election Commisson had decided to keep itself unavailable to the candidates fromKashmir.8221;

Soz, whose crucial vote against the Vajpayee Government on the trust vote in April toppled the BJP-led coalition, blamed 8220;the BJP, the Election Commission and the Jammu and Kashmir government for the worsening situation in Kashmir.8221; He was careful, however, not to name the National Conference.

Soz, who has returned from Kashmir after the elections, portrayed a dismal picture of the situation there. 8220;Kashmir was turned into an international flashpoint; militancy has seen a revival; people are living in a state of hopelessness,8221; he charged, and blamed the BJP-led Government at the Centre for 8220;having brought Kashmir to such a pass8221;.

Soz claimed that the overwhelming boycott of elections in Kashmir indicated the people8217;s frustration with the National Conference government and was not just because they feared the militants.