The leaders of Gupkar Gang have taken to twitter and media interviews to create an impression that level playing field is not being provided for the conduct of District Development Councils (DDCs) elections polling for which will begin within a week. While claiming that non-BJP candidates are not being allowed to campaign they have accused the BJP of “misusing the official machinery” in Jammu and Kashmir against the joint candidates being fielded by the Peoples’ Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD).
Bharatiya Janata Party has not only refuted the allegation as a “blatant lie” and “deliberate misrepresentation of facts” but have also accused the alliance of preparing ground to justify their impending defeat. Brig Veteran Anil Gupta Spokesperson of the Party has accused the Gupkar leaders of playing the “victim card” as usual and pedalling a false narrative of unfair play. “They are so used to claiming “victimhood” and successfully spinning false narratives to sentimentally exploit the gullible Kashmiri people that they are unwilling now to smell the coffee and accept the obvious reality of changed public mood unwilling to accept them this time,” stated Brig Gupta.
“The J&K administration is going out of its way to help the BJP and it’s recently created King’s party by locking up candidates opposed to the BJP, using security as an excuse. If the security situation isn’t conducive to campaigning what was the need to announce elections?” Omar Abdullah said in a tweet. Mehbooba Mufti has alleged that the candidates of the Gupkar Alliance were not being allowed to campaign for the polls, scheduled from November 28. Two other leaders of the gang have stated that there were unfair attempts to reject their candidate’s nomination.
“BJP denies the allegation that its candidates are being given any sort of preferential treatment by the administration. Our candidates are also governed by the same restrictions and allowed same time for canvassing as the other candidates. They are also staying in cluster accommodation with other candidates. In fact the administration is stricter with our candidates on the plea that greater threat exists to BJP candidates,” stated Brig Gupta. But BJP has a well-knit network of karyakartas who are canvassing for our candidates.
The Gupkar Gang is against the Panchayat Raj System and does not want the DDCs to be formed. They were opposed to holding the elections since it would shift the centre of power from Gupkar Road to villages and still nurture the hope of elections being cancelled if few candidates are targeted by the terrorists.
“How long does it take for a conducive security situation to become volatile when we have a neighbour which has adopted terrorism as instrument of state policy and is ever ready to disrupt the normalcy in Kashmir? Like the Gupkaris, Pakistan also doesn’t want grass root level democracy to succeed in Kashmir. The recent Nagrota encounter provides enough evidence of Pakistan’s intent,” stated Brig Gupta. Unfortunately, none of the leaders of Gupkar Gang have condemned Jaish-e-Mohammad or Pakistan rued Brig Gupta.
Rather than resorting to blamegame and pedalling lies the Gupkar Gang should assist the administration in creating a conducive atmosphere for the conduct of these elections and let the police do its job of providing a secure environment for the same, asserted the press release.