Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 21: Seeking immediate publication of Delimitation report followed by early Assembly election in J&K, Panther activists, held a protest demonstration outside Nirvachan Bhawan in Jammu today.
Led by Harsh Dev Singh, Chairman-JKNPP and Yashpaul Kundal, General Secretary JKNPP , the infuriated protestors raised slogans accusing the BJP Govt of colluding with Delimitation Commission in delaying and denying the Assembly elections to satiate its vested political interests.
The NPP leaders questioned the credibility of the Delimitation Commission for inexplicable procrastination of publication of its much trumpeted draft report in the public domain despite lapse of 22 months since its constitution.
Asserting that general masses were fatigued with the bureaucratic rule, Mr Singh called for an end to proxy rule in J&K and early restoration of democracy in the erstwhile State. “The elected representatives alone could appreciate the concerns of the public as against the outside bureaucrats who hardly had any accountability to the people. The cosmetic ‘public hearing’ exercises by the Advisors and Secretaries and the sojourns of Central Ministers had failed to inspire the masses who missed the much needed delivery on the ground,” observed Mr Singh.
Re-iterating that a popular Govt alone could fulfill the aspirations of the general masses, he sought Assembly elections in J&K without any further delay. Seeking justice to the hitherto deprived Jammu region, Harsh Dev Singh said that nothing short of equal seats for the region is acceptable. ” The proposed allocation of 43 seats to Jammu region as against 47 for Kashmir had once again belied the expectations of Jammu region and exposed BJP for its duplicity and double standards”, he said.
Mr Singh further sought allocation of at least 5 Assembly seats to district Udhampur including a separate Assembly constituency for Pancheri, Lander, Bhomag area so as to satisfy the urges of people inhabiting this remotest belt.
Yashpaul Kundal said the Delimitation Commission report should be immediately put in public domain. Any further delay would only help bolster the narrative that the delimitation commission and GJP Govt are hand in glove in delaying and denying democracy in the erstwhile State of J&K, maintained Mr Kundal.
Prominent among those, who spoke on the occasion, included Rajesh Padgotra, Gagan Pratap Singh, Parshotam Parihar, Surinder Chouhan and others.
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