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"The poll is a window of opportunity to wash away the sins of the past," Gujral said at a public meeting in New Delhi on Saturday. "We have not been able to carry all the sections of the people in Jammu & Kashmir with us. But through a free and fair election we can remove the doubts and suspicions of the people."
Pointing out that the "institution of observers" was not new in the subcontinent, Gujral said conducting the polls in the presence of observers would be "entirely in the country's interest".
Recalling the time when he was a member of a team of observers that went to Pakistan, Gujral said, "Benazir [Bhutto] won that particular election. But she told me that she really won the election when observers from India told her that it was free and fair."
Observers were allowed in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal too during elections, he pointed out.
Lauding former Union law minister Ram Jethmalani's effort to bring all the parties involved together for discussions, he disagreed with a suggestion that it had come too late, saying, "it is better late than never".
PTI
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