Barring the BJP, political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, in a meeting held with chief electoral officer Shalindra Kumar on Tuesday, expressed reservations about participating in the panchayat bypolls.
Kumar had invited the political parties to know their views about holding of bypolls in March. The meeting was attended by the BJP, NC, Panthers Party and the Congress, while the PDP stayed away.
According to sources, the participants raised the issue of political detentions, especially of the three former chief ministers—Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti—who were slapped with the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) on February 6 after being kept in detention for six months following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
PDP sources said the party boycotted the meeting as it believes that participating in the polls in the absence of its leaders was impossible. Talking to reporters after the meeting, PDP leader Shalinder Choudhary said the party can’t take part in polls when its leadership is in detention.
Panther’s Party leader Harshdev Singh also raised the issue of political detentions. He asked how elections can be held when most leaders are under detention. “The BJP wants to have a one-sided election,” he said.
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NC leader Ratan Lal Gupta said they believe the situation is not conducive for holding elections.
“The meeting should have been called much earlier to know the views of political parties,” Gupta said.
Congress leader G.N. Monga said the party suggested that either the polls be held on non-party basis or the detained leaders should be released. "We also urged that all curbs imposed after the abrogation of Article 370 should be lifted," Monga said, adding, " It wouldn't be feasible for the party presidents to sign the nomination papers of the candidates in detention."
The Election Commission (EC), last week, announced dates for eight-phase bypolls for 12,500 vacant panchayat seats in Jammu and Kashmir. It said the polling will be held on March 5, March 7, March 9, March 12, March 14, March 16, March 18 and 20.
Panchayat elections were last held in J&K in 2018. The PDP and NC had boycotted the polls then.
