Udhampur, Dec 20: Former Minister and Chairman AAP J&K State Co-ordination Committee, Harsh Dev Singh, Tuesday said the BJP was using the J&K administration to retrieve its lost ground ahead of Assembly Elections in the new UT.
While addressing a party meeting in Udhampur, Singh said having failed to deliver and to meet the expectations of the people, the non-local bureaucrats requisitioned mostly from Gujarat, UP and other states running the affairs of the UT were operating at the behest of BJP leadership while giving a cold shoulder to those in opposition.
“With the common masses devoid of any say and hardly allowed any access to the helmsmen, the state of affairs was pathetic under the BJP regime which was desperately using administration to seek re-surrection in the beleaguered UT of J&K,” he said.
The AAP leader said while the letters, representations, reminders, requests and entreaties of opposition are being contemptuously discarded, the BJP leadership continues to be given overwhelming response by the biased regime with the sole objective of ensuring them enhanced political space.
“Not only are the new developmental works initiated at the behest of BJP leaders during the currency of the financial year but the ongoing works were also being stopped or abandoned only to satisfy the political instincts of the BJP leaders”.
He further alleged that the transfers of officials in different departments were being made on the instructions and directions of the BJP leaders. “There were several transfer orders in Health, Education Deptt besides others which mentioned the names of the recommending authorities, something unheard in democratic jurisprudence which contemplates transfers in the interest of administration rather than on political or other considerations,” rued Singh.
Harsh Dev said the top administration was further conferring other illegitimate benefits upon the ruling party leaders and their allies in the form of governmentt accommodation and huge security deployment.
He divulged that several BJP leaders had been allowed to retain palatial govt mansions including ministerial bungalows without any entitlement and in violation of the orders of the top court. “Several political affiliates of BJP including ‘Apni Party’ and ‘Peoples Conference’ had been allotted govt bungalows for their political offices in Gandhi Nagar, as revealed in an RTI reply, which spoke volumes about politicization of bureaucracy”.
AAP leader further stated that the LG administration while withdrawing security cover of opposition leaders had ensured provision of huge paraphernalia of security personnel with even small time workers of BJP providing the most glaring example of political bias entertained by the present regime.
“And all this was being manipulated at a time when Assembly elections in J&K were round the corner in a bid to confer political benefits upon ruling party leaders and its affiliates,” regretted Mr. Singh.
