Jammu, June 20: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) working president Raman Bhalla on Tuesday accused the BJP of depriving the people of Jammu and Kashmir of the elected government for the last five years.
He said the Election Commission is under the constitutional obligation to hold assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir as the last time elections were conducted in J&K was in 2014. “Since then, no assembly polls were held here,” he said while interacting with the people at Bhour Camp in RS Pura Jammu South Constituency.
On the occasion, Bhalla said, “Except for the Opposition, there is nobody in Jammu and Kashmir while the government dictates the terms and doesn’t take people or political leaders on board. The government only knows how to harass people. When we tried to meet the government, it didn’t oblige. The time has come for the assembly elections in J&K and it is undemocratic to deprive the people of an elected government for a long time.”
Bhalla said Congress believes in democratic values and will ensure that various pro-people initiatives are launched to benefit the weaker sections of people in our society if elected to power.
The Congress leader also accused the government of failing to create diverse economic opportunities in various sectors including tourism, agriculture and horticulture so that the economy of common people improves.
As Jammu and Kashmir completed five years under Central rule, Bhalla said it was the second-longest period of Presidential rule in the country since Independence. “Still, many in Jammu and Kashmir wait eagerly to vote because no place has suffered so much for the right to vote as J&K. There is a continuous denial of democracy in J&K after it was stripped of its statehood. With five years under direct Central rule, there is still no clarity on when the assembly polls would be held in the Union Territory,” he said.
He urged the people to support Congress saying, “Only this party can fight the wrong policies and politics of diversion and hate of the BJP in the whole country”.
