Adil Lateef
SRINAGAR, Apr 22: Accusing Coalition Government of snatching right to vote from people of the State, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, today said the deferment of by-polls for
Anantnag Assembly segment is a conspiracy against the people and claimed that Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti sensed her defeat prior to the elections.
Trashing aside the law and order reason cited by the State Government for deferment of the polls before Election Commission of India (ECI), the PCC chief said even in turbulent 2008, when the situation in State was critical due to post-Amarnath land row, the polls were held and people participated in record numbers “It was being presumed that Mehbooba Mufti will try to fill the vacant seat and will represent those people who had been left half-a-way due to sudden demise of Mufti Sayeed ,” he said during a press conference. He questioned the State government and said earlier it approached the ECI for the polls and then cited a “lame excuse of law and order” to defer it.
Mir, who is also former Tourism Minister of State, claimed that after the announcement of holding by-polls the State Government led by Mehbooba Mufti sought inputs from ground and assessed ground through her friends and agencies. “My central point is that Mehbooba through her friends and agencies must have had tested the ground and she might not have seen herself getting successful in that test. That could be also one of the biggest reasons for deferring the elections. Otherwise, all you know that there is no such law and order issue,” he added.
Mir said the deferment of polls is “a big question on Coalition Government led by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti”. He said it is for the first time in the history of country that any ruling party has decided to defer polls despite being in power. The PCC chief said that post-September 2014 floods, when Kashmir Valley and Anantnag district were ravaged, the same PDP insisted on conducting polls on time and opposed any delay. Linking the deferment of polls with ongoing political row in Uttarakhand, Mir alleged that the RSS-backed BJP has started to ravage democratic institutions in the whole and accused the part of murdering democracy in broad day light by playing games in educational institutes and elected houses.
“I see same conspiracy in stopping people of Anantnag segment in first phase from exercising their democratic right. It could be part of the larger conspiracy,” he said. The PCC chief said the Congress has been taking up the issue of holding municipality elections for last few days for the welfare of people but the new Government has scuttled the process of holding these polls even as Governor N N Vohra had framed a road map in this regard.
“If, for holding polls on a single assembly seat, this Government doesn’t find itself worth then I can see that this Government won’t give people a chance to participate in Municipal and Panchayat polls,” he said, adding that Panchayat polls are must to be held upto July 2016.
He said another reason for deferment of polls could be Mehbooba Mufti’s confession of admitting peoples’ dislike for PDP-BJP coalition. “They (PDP) could have got additional points (because of sympathy wave in wake of Mufti Sayeed’s death). But other thing could be what Mehbooba Mufti said three months ago. She said PDP-BJP coalition has been declared unpopular by people and people have not accepted it and people are not on board with us,” he said, and accused Mehbooba Mufti of doubting the intentions of 1.75 lakh voters of Anantnag, which is a traditional-bastion of PDP.
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