DOGRA HERALD BUREAU
JAMMU, Jan 23
Taranjit Singh Tony, General Secretary Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) and District Development Council (DDC) Member Suchetgarh has slammed the Union Govt for not restoring the statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and failing to hold Assembly elections. He demanded that the Govt must announce the holding of J&K Assembly elections along with the Parliamentary elections.
In a statement issued to media here today, the senior Congress leader said that the statements made from ‘Lal Qila’ made long ago regarding restoration of statehood and Assembly elections in J&K have not seen the light of the day as yet despite the people of J&K anxiously waiting for the same. He said that it is quite ironic that on one hand the Govt is claiming normalcy in J&K and even held the International event like G20 in Srinagar but when it comes to holding of Assembly elections it is shying away by giving lame excuses like security concerns, etc.
Tony said that the height of frustration in the BJP Govt can be well gauged from the fact that even the Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies (ULB) elections are being delayed/ postponed from on one pretext or the other.
Questioning the Autonomy and Independence of the Election Commission of India, he asserted that the Commission should actually work like an Autonomous body in letter and spirit as it did in case of other states like Andhra Pradesh and other southern states. He accused the ECI as well as J&K Election Commission of following the dictates of the BJP thus creating hurdles in restoring the democratic right of the people of J&K.
Asserting that now that the Supreme Court has fixed the deadline for the holding of Assembly elections in J&K, Election Commission is bound to announce the elections in J&K, Tony demanded that the Assembly elections should be held along with Parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
