Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 11: With ominous defeat on the horizon, the opposition parties have begun to attack the ECI over the conduct of 2019 elections said BJP State spokesperson, Brig (retd) Anil Gupta, in a statement issued here today.
Taking the opposition to task, he accused it of playing communal card ahead of the elections by blaming the Election Commission of India for holding the elections during Ramzan. In order to polarize the society and arouse religious sentiments of the Muslims, the opposition is trying to make a mole out of an ant hill Brig Gupta said while condemning the opposition’s objection as unjustified and unwarranted.
Elaborating further Brig Gupta said that the fasting during Ramzan in no way prevents the Muslims from attending to their daily routine or abstain from work during the period of fasting. Those keeping Rozas go to work as well. Thus, raising such a controversy is nothing but a politically motivated nuisance to surcharge the peaceful atmosphere, charged Brig Gupta.
The Election Commission has also clarified that polls have to be conducted during Ramzan as an entire month cannot be excluded from the schedule. However, dates of main festivals and Fridays have been avoided as poll days, the release added.
Taking to task NC president, Dr Farooq Abdullah who has been very critical of the ECI blaming it for not functioning independently but at the behest of the Government, Brig Gupta said that Dr Farooq has no reason to blame the ECI for not holding simultaneous elections to State Assembly in J&K because his party does not believe in democracy or electoral process. When it was time for the NC to prove its credibility and popularity during the recently held local bodies’ elections he threw the towel in the ring by announcing the boycott of the elections. It was the prospect of a certain defeat that forced Abdullah to change his announced decision of participation in the elections. Has there been in any change in Government’s stance on Article 35A that has now prompted Farooq to fight for holding the Assembly elections, questioned Brig Gupta?
Going by the high moral stand taken by the party during the earlier elections, NC should be boycotting all elections till the Supreme Court decides on the future of Article 35A, Brig Gupta said.
He said Farooq and his party is famous for “opportunistic politics” and true to its ideology is now blaming the ECI for postponing the Assembly elections. It is not the job of Dr Farooq or any other political party to conduct the elections. Onus of conducting safe and peaceful elections in the country is the responsibility of the ECI and it should be left to its wisdom as to how and when the elections to State Assembly are to be conducted, Brig Gupta added.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel