J&K parties oppose local polls decision

J&K’s chief electoral officer, Shailendra Kumar, on Sunday announced that the BDC polls will be held on October 24.

The Congress and other political parties on Monday opposed the move to hold block development council (BDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on party lines, saying how can the polls be held when top politicians remain under detention following revocation of Constitution’s Article 370 last month.

Kashmiri women stand in a queue to cast their votes in the recently held Jammu and Kashmir elections. (Waseem Andrabi/ HT photo)

J&K’s chief electoral officer, Shailendra Kumar, on Sunday announced that the BDC polls will be held on October 24. Former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti are among top politicians under detention following the revocation of Article 370 last month.

J&K Congress chief, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, said the exercise will be nothing but selection and not election when only the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are free while leaders from other parties are under house arrest. “…[It will be] just one-way traffic,” he said. “If needed, we will approach the President.”

A leader of Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party called it a completely undemocratic. “With politicians from opposition under house arrest, it would be a walkover for the ruling party,” the said. A leader of Abdullah’s National Conference refused to comment.