Articles 370, 35A are main planks on which polls are contested in Jammu and Kasmir: Omar Abdullah
Highlights
- He says Governor told officials that assembly polls will not be held soon
- The Governor, he says, is either incompetent or carrying out BJP agenda
- BJP doesn't want an elected government, says Omar Abdullah
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today claimed Governor Satyapal Malik has told government officials that assembly elections in the state will not be held soon. The Governor, he said, either has his "ability at fault" or carrying out the BJP agenda.
Assembly elections are due in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under the Governor's Rule since July last year. There were expectations that it would be held along with the Lok Sabha elections, but the Election Commission thumbs downed on it, citing the security concerns of the state government.
Recently there was a buzz that the elections could be held in June. Sources said the administration has given a proposal about possibility of holding assembly elections in June.
But today, Mr Abdullah said, "I believe that yesterday, no one less than the Governor of the state had a meeting in Jammu, in which he told officers not to be in the mistaken impression that an elected government will be formed soon".
Either the Governor's intentions are not good and he "plans to use the Raj Bhavan to fulfil the agenda of BJP who don't want an elected government," Mr Abdullah told NDTV in an interview today.
The other possibility is that the Governor, he said, is accepting that his leadership has been so "detrimental to the interests of the state, that he is incapable of managing an assembly election".
Lok Sabha elections are being held on the six seats of Jammu and Kashmir over five phases. The last round of elections will be held on May 6. The polling for Anantnag parliament constituency is being held in three phases -- the first such instance in the country's electoral history.
"I fail to understand why this administration in the state is determined to deny people to choose their own government," added the leader whose party, the National Conference, has been committed to the restoration of greater autonomy in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mr Abdullah, however, pointed out that his party did not make Article 370 and separate Prime Minister a major issue. "It is the BJP who made it an issue for us. Articles 370 and 35A are the main plank on which elections are contested in Jammu and Kashmir today," he said.