PDP To Boycott Local Body Polls In J&K, Cites Article 35A Row
- 10-Sep-2018
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>Srinagar: The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Monday has formally decided to boycott the upcoming municipal and panchayat polls in Jammu-Kashmir. It became the second mainstream political party after the National Conference (NC) to distance itself from the poll process amid the row over Article 35A.
“The situation created by linking panchayat polls with the case pending in Supreme Court about Article 35A has created apprehensions in the minds of the people, who genuinely see an assault on the special constitutional position of the state.” PDP President Mehbooba Mufti said after a party meet in Srinagar. “Looking at the situation, we have decided to stay away from the process”.
The party passed a unanimous resolution that said that imposing elections in the state would “erode the credibility” of the electoral process in the state. “It was felt that any attempt to impose any electoral exercise in the current atmosphere of fear and apprehension would seriously erode the credibility of the process,” the resolution said. “It (conducting elections) would defeat the very purpose of it,” the party resolution said.
The PDP urged the Centre to “review” its decision of conducting the municipal and panchayat polls in the state. “The party urges the government to review its decision to hold Local bodies elections at this juncture against the will of the people and instead focus on confidence-building measures so that the State is assured of the inviolability of the constitutional guarantees that make it a special part of the Union of India,” the resolution said.
The panchayat and municipal polls are scheduled to start from October 1. While the municipal polls will be held in four phases from October 1 to October 5, the panchayat polls would be held in eight phases from November 8 to December 4.
The National Conference last Wednesday said that it would boycott the upcoming polls till the centre clarifies its position on the article 35A.
Sources say that the three major political parties – National Conference, PDP and Congress – are under tremendous pressure from its workers who are asking them to boycott the municipal and panchayat elections because of the unfavourable situation in south Kashmir. In fact, BJP has also been conveyed by its workers in the Valley that the time is not right for the elections.
