All India leaders of the Opposition assure to fight for statehood, appeal to ECI to hold early Assembly elections in J&K: Tony

NEW DELHI, MAR 16: Taranjit Singh Tony, Chairman Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Jammu and Kashmir for Administrative Engagement and Minority Affairs, and District Development Council (DDC) Member Suchetgarh has said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has assured to announce the schedule of elections for the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly soon.

He stated this while addressing media persons in the National Capital after submitting a memorandum of demands in this regard to the ECI.

It is pertinent to mention here that a 13-member delegation of the opposition party leaders from Jammu and Kashmir headed by National Conference (NC) President Dr Farooq Abdullah today approached the ECI on the issue after conducting a meeting at the Constitution Club in Delhi on Thursday. Today’s meeting was arranged and led by Dr Farooq Abdullah. Prominent leaders present in the delegation were Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Sitaram Yechuri of CPI(M), Sharad Pawar of NCP, Ramgopal Yadav of SP, Manoj Kumar of RJD, T.R. Balan of DMK.

Taranjit Singh Tony said that holding of elections to J&K Assembly and restoration of statehood are a dire necessity today as the people are deprived of their most significant fundamental democratic right in absence of the duly elected Assembly members. He said that the elections to Panchayats or PRIs can’t be a substitute for Assembly elections. He said that the LG Administration is ruling J&K through bureaucracy in which there is nobody to listen to people’s woes with people left to the mercy of God.

Tony, while putting up the demand of holding elections before the ECI, questioned that when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Home Minister Amit Shah and the Lt Governor of J&K Manoj Sinha are asserting that J&K is quite peaceful then why is there delay in holding of the Assembly elections. He said that moreover, all the prerequisites like reconstitution of Assembly constituencies and the final revision of electoral rolls stands completed and the only thing left now is the announcement of the election schedule by the ECI. He hoped that in view of the ECI assurance election schedule will now be soon announced by the ECI.