BJP throttling democracy by not conducting assembly polls in J&K: Cong
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) on Thursday accused the BJP of throttling democracy by not conducting the Assembly elections in the union territory, saying it was a ploy of the ruling party at the Centre.
On PFI ban, the JKPCC president Viqar Rasool said that the outfit was not present in J&K and the AICC will respond to that. However, he sought a ban on the RSS as well.
“RSS naturally is a criminal organisation. They should ban it too and you should see their past record. Today, Mohan Bagwat-ji sometimes visits mosques, which is a pretense. They have a criminal history,” he said.
Rasool said the last Assembly election in J&K took place in 2014 and it has now been almost nine years since the polls were held here for the new Assembly.
“The elections are being deferred continuously. Timely elections are the beauty of democracy. If elections are conducted on time in other states of the country, then why not in J&K too?” JKPCC president told reporters here.
He further, alleged, “This is a ploy of the BJP and that is why they downgraded J&K to a UT. It is unfortunate that the BJP government is throttling democracy. We want the elections to be conducted and we are ready for that,” he said.
Rasool said the Congress party is ready for elections so that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are able to choose representatives of their choice.
“This is unfortunate that Centre keeps on deferring elections in J&K; people here are deliberately made to face problems in the absence of an elected government in the newly carved out Union Territory,” he said, adding that the government seems reluctant to give people a chance to choose the government of their choice.
The newly elected Congress chief for J&K said “Congress workers work day and night to strengthen the party at grassroots level to restore the lost identity of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Nine years have passed since elections were held in J&K, but the government seems to be reluctant to conduct polls here. All this is done under a conspiracy to keep J&K under the direct rule of Centre and that’s what made the BJP government to downgrade a full-fledged state into two separate Union Territories,” he added.
On the Congress president polls, Rasool said the delegates from J&K were ready to vote.
“Any delegate, including me, can submit his nomination for the party president’s post. Tomorrow is the last date for submitting a nomination. We will then see and there will be voting on October 18 and whoever wins, will become all-India president. This is a democracy. This is our internal matter and the BJP has nothing to do with it,” he said.
