New Delhi, Mar 16: Opposition parties including some regional parties from Jammu and Kashmir today submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission of India, seeking early assembly polls in the Union Territory.
The memorandum was signed by National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Prof Manoj Kumar Jha, RJD MP, Ram Gopal Yadav, Samajwadi Party MP, TR Ballu DMK MP and other senior leaders of national political parties, according to reports.
The opposition leaders today held a meeting at Constitution Club in Delhi and deliberated over the issue before submitting the memorandum. According to the memorandum, Jammu and Kashmir have been without a legislative assembly and an elected government for the past five years now.
“In defiance of the letter and spirit of the Constitution, an unrepresentative and unaccountable bureaucracy is allowed to run the government to the general public’s discomfort and inconvenience,” it said.
It stated that panchayat elections and other PRI elections could not be used to replace legislative assembly elections and that the government, as well as the ECI, could not avoid or postpone assembly elections on that basis. “Had this been the case, there would be no need for the ECI to conduct assembly elections in states with due schedule and punctuality, as evidenced by the recently held assembly elections in Meghalaya, Tripura, and Nagaland, as well as the elections scheduled to be held in Karnataka.”
It went on to say that “in each case, the argument could have been that because PRIs were in place, there was no need to hold assembly elections.”
“The Home Minister and other functionaries of the Government of India have stated on numerous occasions that the government is ready to facilitate the conduct of assembly elections, with the Election Commission of India making the final call.”
It stated that the Election Commission of India has a constitutional obligation to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and that any delay or denial of assembly elections would amount to a violation of the people’s fundamental and democratic rights as well as a breach of constitutional obligations.
“We reiterate, however, that the assembly election would be the first and most important step towards restoring all constitutional rights guaranteed in the Indian constitution and fulfilling the political aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” it said.
“We, the signatories to this memorandum representing various political parties of Jammu and Kashmir and various national political parties implore and request the Election Commission of India to announce the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir without further delay and notify the election schedule so that the democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and access to democratic institutions are restored,” the memorandum stated.
Earlier in the day, J&K leaders met with representatives of various national opposition parties to discuss the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the delay in holding assembly elections.