BJP aiming to rule Jammu & Kashmir from Delhi: Congress leader Vikar Rasool Wani

Elections should be followed by restoration of full Statehood to Jammu & Kashmir, demands J&K Pradesh Congress Committee head

Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Vikar Rasool Wani on Monday said the BJP was aiming to rule the Union Territory directly from New Delhi and was shying away from early elections in Srinagar.

“The BJP has adopted misleading and deceitful politics aiming to rule J&K directly from the Centre. It was shying away from the elections, which is bound to further expose its anti-people and wrong policies towards J&K,” Mr. Wani, who addressed a public rally in Kulgam’s Damhal, said.

The Congress leader said the Centre was adopting dilly-dallying tactics with regard to holding Assembly elections in J&K. “How long will J&K be kept at the mercy of bureaucracy? How long will people be denied their democratic rights? Such measures are fraught with serious consequences,” Mr. Wani said.

Also Read | Outsiders living ordinarily in J&K can enlist as voters for Assembly polls: J&K Chief Electoral Officer

The last Assembly elections were held in 2014 in J&K, which has remained under Central rule since the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-BJP ruling alliance fell apart in 2018. 

Demanding early Assembly elections in J&K, Mr. Wani said, “The elections should be followed by restoration of full Statehood to J&K.”

He said the Congress will continue to fight for constitutional guarantees, protection of land, and jobs. “Congress will not compromise on the rights of people rather fight vigorously to ensure justice to them [the people], besides exposing the political exploitation on the part of BJP,” he added.