Hope HM’s visit paves way for assembly elections in J&K: Apni Party

Samba, June 16: Apni Party provincial president Jammu and former minister S Manjit Singh on Friday expressed hope that the scheduled visit of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah may pave the way for the holding of early assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a workers’ meeting organized by District President, Legal Cell, Samba, Adv Sahil Bharti here at Ramgarh, the former minister said the Union Home Minister, who is visiting Jammu on a daylong tour on June 23, is expected to get a review of the ground situation of J&K.
“I hope a decision in the interest of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be taken by Amit Shah for holding early assembly elections and the restoration of Statehood to J&K,” he said.
He recalled how the delay in holding assembly elections has widened the gap between the administration and the people for the last several years. The gap between the people and administration has widened because of anti-people policies, he said.
“The anti-encroachment drive, allotment of tenders to the outsiders, involvement of non-local contractors in mining, issue of acquiring of land by NHAI in Samba, and Kathua, lack of trust in the administration, unscheduled curtailment of electricity, irregular clean drinking water supply, scam in recruitments, growing unemployment among the educated youth of J&K are among the reasons that the people feel that the LG administration has failed,” he said.
“The detachment of people with the administration has grown stronger because the demands of general masses are not being given heed,” Singh said while citing the example of Shaheedi Chowk, Kathua where a building was demolished because it had no building permission.
He said the administration could have sealed the building, but they took “extreme steps” that sparked a series of protests in Kathua town for two days.
He further said that the farmers and people in villages are facing the “worst kind of difficulties” as these areas lack development, pending developmental projects are still to be completed and basic amenities are also not provided to the residents.
As far as the promotion of tourism is concerned, the new places are yet to be explored in many areas of Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Udhampur, he said, adding that Jasrota Fort, Parmandal, and other historic sites in Jammu plains have not been promoted, renovated, and explored by the authorities. All these issues have added to the growing worries of the people, and hence, the holding of assembly elections is imperative to win the confidence of the people, he added.
“Without the elected government, the bureaucracy cannot do justice to the people as they are not answerable to them. An elected government is always accountable and answerable to the people,” he said and demanded that the J&K’s Statehood status must be restored and assembly elections must be held.