As the last phase of district development council (DDC) elections is scheduled on December 19, parties were seen canvassing across Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
However, only the BJP and Apni Party held rallies in nearly all of the poll-bound constituencies, while campaigning by the top regional parties like the PDP and NC seemed subdued. Even Congress ran a low-key campaign across the UT.
The last round of the eight-phase DDC polls will be held on Saturday and results for the 280 seats will be declared on December 22.
During the vote-seeking exercise, the BJP strengthened its poll campaign with the help of its top national leaders who arrived in the UT and promoted the DDC candidates. On the contrary, the top leaders of the biggest regional parties like the NC and PDP mostly stayed away from grassroots campaigning.
NC and PAGD president Farooq Abdullah had at the start of the elections issued a short video on social media seeking votes for the alliance candidates. However, leaders like Mehbooba Mufti blamed the administration for not allowing her to travel during the DDC polls. Only People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone addressed three to four rallies in Kupwara district promoting PAGD candidates, mainly from his own party.
NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the party has a strong cadre base across J&K who ran the campaign...“Our district and provincial leaders too were part of the poll campaign and the results will portray our hard work.”
{{/usCountry}}NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said the party has a strong cadre base across J&K who ran the campaign...“Our district and provincial leaders too were part of the poll campaign and the results will portray our hard work.”
{{/usCountry}}Claiming that the administration created impediments to their poll campaign, PDP spokesman Tahir Sayeed said party president Mehbooba Mufti was not allowed to travel to South Kashmir and other areas. “Security was denied to our top leaders so we devised a plan which involved grassroots cadres in the canvassing process.” He alleged that only the BJP and its “B team” (referring to Apni Party) were given a free hand to run their campaign. “We were not given a level playing field by the administration,” he rued.
BJP in-charge for Kashmir, Vibodh Gupta said the BJP takes every election seriously. “For us, this is a big election and our national leaders participated in the rallies held in all parts of the UT, especially in Kashmir as we wanted that party flag should reach every corner of the valley.”
In case of Congress, not a single national leader visited J&K to boost the morale of the cadres.