The Abbas Ansari-led faction of the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference on Wednesday asked people to stay away from the parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

"We are not participating in the poll process... We seek a permanent settlement of the issue and consider election is not the answer," Hurriyat spokesman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat said in Srinagar after an executive meeting of the amalgam.

"We have asked people to support a process that will lead to permanent settlement of the Kashmir dispute. Elections have failed to solve the problem in the past and they will not solve it in future."

The Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led faction of the Hurriyat and other separatist groups, including the J&K Liberation Front led by Yassin Malik, have also called for poll boycott.

Police on Tuesday arrested Malik and Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmad Shah while they were conducting anti-poll campaigns in north Kashmir. They were released later.

Asked if the Hurriyat would also launch an anti-poll campaign, Bhat said, "We have directed our activists to meet people and tell them not to vote. The word has already gone across."