Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, June 29: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference today expressed dismay over the statement of Union Home Minister on the question of conducting Assembly elections in the State, saying the inordinate delay in holding Assembly elections in the State is synonymous with scuttling federalism in the country.
Addressing a series of worker’s conventions at Rafiabad and Baramulla, party general secretary Haji Ali Muhammad Sagar said the Central Government led by BJP was persistent on ruling the State from the Center. He said the move will prove detrimental to the structure of federalism in the country.
“On one hand the Home Minister minces no word to accentuate the peaceful conduct of ULB, Panchayat and Parliament elections, simultaneously he is denying a representative Government to the State. Yesterday, we heard the Home Minister necessitating on the need of strengthening grass root level democracy in the State. How can the dream possibly be achieved by delaying the Assembly elections? Any further delay in having an elected representative Government in the State will further increase the gap between the Government and the people. The youth of the State in particular stand disenfranchised due to the imprudent policies of former BJP-PDP Government; the incumbent Governor administration is proving equally inefficient. The absence of an elected Government in the State has put the identity and integrity of the State on peril. The people of the State are yearning for a Stable Government which could protect the identity and territorial integrity of the State. Above and beyond the development has been the prime causality as a consequence of election delay in the State,” he said.
Reacting sharply on the statement of Home Minister, NC’s provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani said Art 370 of the Constitution of India is solemn pledge of the Constituent Assembly of India to the State. “If Article 370 is temporary, then the very edifice built on it is impermanent. The sordid assertions like these aiming at obliterating the identity will add to the disenchantment in the youth. The need of the hour is to strengthen the Art 370, Art 35-A,” he said adding, “The main objective of the party is to strive towards restoration of Pre 1953 situation in the State.
Party senior leader Abdul Rahim Rathar, while addressing the workers, said the NC is the only political dispensation of the State which boasts a panacea for varied problems of the State.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
