National Panthers Party Protests Against BJP Over Delay In J&K Polls

Activists of the National Panthers Party (NPP) on Monday staged a protest here against the BJP and the Election Commission of India for not holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Led by their president Harsh Dev Singh, a group of NPP activists gathered outside the headquarters of the State Election Commission (SEC) to lodge their protest over the delay in assembly polls.

"We are holding this protest to highlight the murder of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir over the past five years by the ruling BJP... The ECI has surrendered before the BJP and is depriving the people of a democratically elected government," Mr Singh, a former minister, told reporters.

He claimed that the elections have been delayed at the behest of the BJP on one pretext or the other during the last five years.

"The BJP is not confident of the win of their candidates due to its wrong policies and is using delaying tactics to continue its proxy rule in Jammu and Kashmir," the NPP leader said.

He said barring the BJP, all political parties supported holding the assembly elections when the ECI team visited J-K in 2019 to review the situation on the ground.

"Instead of announcing the polls, the ECI danced on the tunes of the BJP, which is not ready to go for the elections which is highly condemnable and shameful," Mr Singh said.

He said there are reports that the BJP is planning to hold Urban Local Bodies and Municipal elections after Lok Sabha polls next year.

"By not holding elections on time, J-K has been singled out in the country as BJP is putting hurdles in the smooth functioning of the democratic institutions," he said, adding the ECI has dented its credibility among the people of Jammu and Kashmir. 

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