Panthers Party president and former education minister Harsh Dev Singh, along with the party’s supporters, were allegedly heckled and roughed up before being detained outside Nirvachan Bhawan on Friday.
They were protesting over election Commission of India’s decision of derecognising Panthers Party and its symbol of bicycle for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
They were released in the evening.
Singh and his supporters raised slogans against the Bharatiya Janata party government and ECI. He accused ECI of hobnobbing with the BJP to further the saffron party’s “agenda”.
“Panthers Party is a registered party in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the BJP used ECI to derecognise it. At the behest of the BJP, the ECI has abolished the party and its symbol without affording it an opportunity to be heard. This is arbitrary and unconstitutional,” he told mediapersons.
Singh demanded the resignation of the chief election commissioner. “No action was taken for so long, but as soon as the elections were announced, Panthers Party was banned. Such an unconstitutional step has never happened before in the country’s history,” he said.
He, however, asserted that his party workers would not be cowed down by these pressure tactics of the BJP.
{{/usCountry}}He, however, asserted that his party workers would not be cowed down by these pressure tactics of the BJP.
{{/usCountry}}Following the death of Panthers Party founder Bhim Singh in May 2022, there has been a fight among various factions within the party. Due to the internal strife over and dispute over claim of being the successor, the ECI de-recognised the party.
Harsh Dev Singh, who is Bhim Singh’s nephew, and claims himself to be the president of the Panthers Party, was stopped from meeting ECI in Srinagar recently.
In Jammu, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar had clarified that due to the dispute in the Panthers Party, Harsh Dev Singh was not allowed to meet the visiting team.