J&K Polls Being Politicised, People Being Disenfranchised, Alleges National Conference

Srinagar: The National Conference (NC) Monday alleged that the process of conducting assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is being unduly politicised and people in the state are being denied the right to choose their government.

Jammu and Kashmir does not have an elected dispensation since the PDP-BJP coalition government fell apart in June 2018.

Early this month, the Election Commission said it will announce the schedule of assembly polls in the state after the Amarnath Yatra concludes. The pilgrimage, which will begin on July 1, will conclude on August 15.

"The whole process of conducting assembly elections is being subjected to undue politicking which unfortunately is taking its toll on the development of the state. Having an elected government is the unassailable right of the people in a thriving democracy, but here the right to make a choice is being denied to the people," NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said.

Addressing party workers in Pulwama, he claimed the growing public support for the NC has unnerved forces that are inimical to the interests of the state.

"That is precisely why they are not persistent about having the elections at the earliest," he said without naming anyone.

"However, people of our state have understood the game plan of the forces as are striving hard to obliterate our identity. With the help of the Almighty and the unflinching support of people of our state, the NC will trounce all the political machinations as are being contrived to divide the voice of the people of the state," he added.

Sagar said repeated undertakings by Governor Satya Pal Malik about providing a sense of security to the people stood debunked in wake of unrelenting intimidation and frisking of vehicles on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.

"It does not behove a democratic set up like ours to have public and private vehicles stranded for hours on the national highway. Reports of harassment are also coming forth, this has to stop," he said.

"Such actions will inadvertently push the already aggrieved people to the wall. Measures like these will add to the alienation among the people, especially the youth," he said.