Soz, who has won thrice from Baramulla and seems to be apprehending defeat this time, said ``(The) Election Commission has added to the frustration of Kashmiri people by permitting the government to use policemen and surrendered militants as election agents in Kashmir.''

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

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

Soz, whose crucial vote against the Vajpayee Government on the trust vote in April toppled the BJP-led coalition, blamed ``the BJP, the Election Commission and the Jammu and Kashmir government for the worsening situation in Kashmir.'' 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. ``Kashmir was turned into an international flashpoint; militancy has seen a revival; people are living in a state of hopelessness,'' he charged, and blamed the BJP-led Government at the Centre for ``having brought Kashmir to such a pass''.

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