Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU/SRINAGAR, Mar 10: Besides National Conference and PDP, Congress, CPI(M) and Panthers Party have also expressed their disappointment over the Election Commission of India’s decision of deferring Assembly polls in J&K.
Reacting to the deferment of Assembly elections , J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president, GA Mir said that tall claims of BJP led Central Government with regard to J&K situation stand exposed as the establishment has itself certified that situation was out of control and not conducive for holding simultaneous polls.
In a statement Mir said that it was the golden chance for the Centre to hold elections in order to give an elected Government to people of J&K as all the political parties were of the opinion that simultaneous elections should be held in the State. The Centre has once again failed to hold Assembly elections citing the reason as volatile situation which is indicative of utter failure of Centre to respect the urges and aspirations of the people, he added.
PCC chief further said that during UPA Rule, the elections were conducted in 2014 despite the unfavourable situation and the State had experienced highest poll percentage. However, he added, this time the polls were deferred due to the mishandling of the situations on the part of BJP-led Central Government.
CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has said that the ECI announcement of not conducting Assembly polls in J&K along with Parliament elections has disappointed the people of the State in general. “This was done despite that almost all the political parties had urged upon the Election Commission to hold both the elections simultaneously. Not holding Assembly polls will send wrong signals to people within and outside the State,” he said in a statement, issued here today.
Claiming that in the absence of an elected Government, uncertainty in the State is deepening day-by-day and dissatisfaction among large section of people is increasing, Tarigami stressed that only effective response to this situation would have been to hold elections to Assembly and Lok Sabha simultaneously.
Prof Bhim Singh, Chief Patron of National Panthers Party, has also expressed surprise over the development and termed the ECI decision as unexpected, undesirable and un-ethical. He said that the Central Government has played this political fraud with the electorates of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh who have been without elected Government for more than eight months.
Alleging that this has exposed the double standards of the BJP Government at the Centre, Prof Bhim Singh urged the President of India for his urgent intervention as he is the only appropriate authority in law under Article 370 who is responsible for the welfare and administration of the State in the absence of an elected Government.
Follow our WhatsApp channel