Poll over but politics goes on

A week after polling was held for the 68-strong Himachal Pradesh assembly, the Congress and the BJP are still sparring over violation of the model code of conduct, which is in force till December 18. The BJP knocked at the clection commission’s door when the state government transferred two officers the other day, calling alleging it a poll code violation. The Congress, too, did not miss an opportunity to lodge a complaint when BJP MP Anurag Thakur distributed cricket kits in Bilaspur. The leaders from both sides also traded barbs by holding press conferences. Known for his shifting stance, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, who was in Jammu on Saturday, reiterated his recent statement that POK belongs to Pakistan and India cannot retrieve it. “Yes, I say it (POK) belongs to them (Pakistan). Are they (Pakistan) wearing bangles? They also have atom bombs! Do you want us to be killed by them? You are sitting in palaces, think about the poor people living in border areas, who are bombed daily,” he said. The same Farooq had once said bombard Pakistan and throw Hurriyat leaders into Jhelum. He was in power at that time. Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had even pointed out his changing stand. “He (Farooq) has now started singing different tunes. NC can play with any one’s life even with the lives of women and children to get power,” she said at a function in Srinagar last December.