JAMMU: Apni Party’s Senior Vice President and former Cabinet Minister, Ghulam Hassan Mir, has demanded the holding of the pending Panchayati Raj elections in Jammu and Kashmir to strengthen democratic institutions at the grassroots level.
“Apni Party stands for the consolidation of democratic institutions, and therefore the pending panchayat elections should be held without further delay, as panchayats have become non-functional in the absence of elected representatives,” Ghulam Hassan Mir said while addressing party leaders at the Apni Party office in Gandhi Nagar, Jammu district.
Mir chaired a meeting with the party leadership of the Jammu region and held a detailed discussion on strengthening the Apni Party in the region. During the meeting, party leaders were emphasised to strengthen the organisation at the block level and reach out to people at the grassroots.
The leadership stressed that the diversity of the Jammu region is in the interest of Jammu and Kashmir as well as the country, where people belonging to different religions, regions, cultures, and languages live together in peace.
“Unfortunately, political parties like the National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party contested the last Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on regional and communal lines, which widened gaps and created feelings of mistrust among the people,” Mir said, referring to the aggressive election campaigns by both parties.
However, he added that the Apni Party would work to promote friendship, better understanding, and equitable development in both the Jammu and Kashmir regions to bridge differences created by other political parties for their own gains.
Mir further said that the Apni Party would compel the government to fulfil the promises made in its manifesto to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
