NC throws in towel in the local bodies elections and concedes defeat: BJP

Jammu, Sept 06: National Conference (NC) has quitted the local bodies’ elections without contesting thus conceding defeat and accepting the reality that it has lost its mass base in all three regions of the state according to a press release issued by Bharatiya Janata Party. Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday 02 September 2018, denounced militants and the separatist leadership for urging people to boycott polls and said they want to “keep pot boiling in Kashmir as they make fortunes out of people’s miseries.” Urging people to participate in the upcoming urban local bodies and Panchayat polls, Farooq said boycotting polls won’t help anybody. “It won’t resolve Kashmir issue and neither India nor Pakistan can benefit from it. It is for the betterment and development of people of the state.”

“Why same Farooq Abdullah has made a U-turn in 48 hrs and started singing the same tune as that of separatists and terrorists?Isn't he and his party also making fortune out of people's miseries?” questioned Brig Anil Gupta, State Spokesperson of BJP. Sensing imminent defeat in the forthcoming elections due to the poor response the party got in all three regions, NC has chosen the softer option of “quitting without contest” and resort to its tried and tested strategy of communal cum divisive politics by exploiting the regional and religious sentiments of the people of the state. The party has chosen Article 35A as an alibi only to distract the people from the reality of apparent ignominious defeat according to the press release.

The fact is that the feudal mind set of the party and its hereditary hierarchy are contradictory to the very concept of devolution of power to the grass roots level. Under the pretext of 35A, the Abdullahs want to save their own turf and fiefdom and retain their monopoly on control of funds received from the centre so that they can fill their coffers and of their cronies. “By boycotting the elections to the lowest echelons of grass roots democracy, NC has not only betrayed the people of Jammu & Kashmir but also its founding father Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah,” asserted Brig Gupta.

 “If NC is so concerned about the fate of Article 35A, why it did not boycott the elections to Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Kargil? Why it did not oppose the local bodies’ elections at the very outset? What has forced the party to come on same page with terrorists and separatists? For how long the party can rely on opportunism without exposing its real face that is characterised by ‘duality’? These are a few questions the party needs to answer to the people since the party claims to be ‘voice of the people’ and true representative of all three regions of the state” demanded Brig Gupta.