7 June, Jammu: On Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary and in-charge J&K Affairs Tarun Chugh said that no one was suppressing voting rights in J&K and that the Election Commission of India (ECI) was doing its constitutional duty by announcing elections.
The former chief minister was responding to a statement by Omar Abdullah, who said that “those in power” were “denying the citizens of J&K their fundamental right to vote.”
Who is taking away (their) franchise?” In the past, who was encouraging people in Jammu and Kashmir to not vote? Who would try to win power via a “politics of poll boycott” in this country? Who exactly advocated for separatist policies in this region? Speaking to the media, Chugh blasted Omar Abdullahji, saying, “Omar Abdullahji would have to learn that there is democracy in India and the confidence of the people of J&K in democracy has risen (in recent years).
The politics followed by the Abdullah, Mufti, Gandhi, and Nehru dynasties had suffocated democracy in J&K, and as a result, the people there had lost trust in the democratic process. Your “Rajshahi” (autocratic) viewpoint has done irreparable harm to democracy in J&K. When political opponents in J&K accused the BJP of “willfully delaying assembly elections as it was scared of its defeat,” Chugh responded angrily, “You people have always opposed democratic practises.”
Chugh said that thousands of public representatives were elected in the wake of the repeal of Article 370 in DDC, BDC, and Panchayat elections.
Around 280 people were chosen to serve on the DDC. The Election Commission is still doing its constitutional duty and will shortly provide a timetable for polling locations and times. J&K, however, is moving ahead thanks to the “Vikas Aur Vishwas” (development and faith in democracy) programme being pushed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, therefore your separatist ideas will find no supporters there.
