Evolve consensus: Cong, PDP to guv

Mehbooba Mufti seeks allparty meet, Congress presses for meeting of all stakeholders

:The Congress and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday urged governor Satya Pal Malik to evolve a consensus over panchayat and urban local body elections scheduled for October in Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief GA Mir said that taking any unilateral decision was not wise in a state like Jammu and Kashmir.

“We think it is a sensitive state and, here, taking any unilateral decision is not prudent. If he (governor) has to take issues forward successfully then consensus is necessary,” Mir said during a media interaction in Srinagar.

The Congress leader’s statement comes after the National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah declared that it will not take part in the upcoming elections until the Centre doesn’t make its stand clear on the Article 35A and Article 370 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court last month adjourned the hearing to January 2019 on a bunch of petitions against the Article 35A of the Constitution, which empowers the Jammu and Kashmir’s legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state. In the court, the state pleaded for deferment of hearing till the elections were conducted.

Militants have threatened candidates for taking part in the polls while separatists have called for a boycott.

Mir went on to say that even those ‘not in the mainstream’ should also be taken on board.

“Whether mainstream parties or those not in the mainstream, they should be taken on board from time to time. Indian government has also appointed an interlocutor and if he wants he could have used the services of the interlocutor. Till people understand the differences between panchayat, urban bodies, and assembly and parliament elections, it will mess up,” he said.

He said that the panchayat and municipal elections are development oriented not politics and they could even be fought on non-party basis.

The state Congress has called for a meeting of its leaders on September 11 to decide their participation in the upcoming elections.

Mir said that they met governor Malik as the party wanted him to improve the situation on ground before showing any haste in conducting the elections.

“The Lok Sabha elections last time here showed 7% polling. It did not send a positive message. We told him, if you want to increase it, then the grievances and issues of people have to be addressed, so that there is a change on ground. So you have to take a review of the Central policies as well as local, soften these policies so that there is a sigh of relief,” Mir said.

“When children leave home in the morning, there are apprehensions whether they will return back. Till these apprehensions are not cleared, people won’t support any democratic process. Take some decisions based on feedback from people and get people on board, then we can talk of elections,” he said.

Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said that governor should call for an all party meet before going ahead with the elections.

“In our time, we called an all party meeting where it came to fore that the situation is not right and we can’t provide security to so many people. Violence can erupt and even people can get killed. Today, I also hope that government will consult all parties and then take a decision so that lives and properties of people are safe,” she told media after a public meeting in central Kashmir.

Mehbooba said that people are apprehensive over the conduct of elections and the fate of Article 35A.

“People are apprehensive, parties are apprehensive. Another problem is Article 35A in court, and then deferring it on the premise that its decision will be taken after panchayat elections, it further aggravated the atmosphere. So in this situation I think governor should call all the parties to consult them and then take a decision,” she said.

I hope government will consult all parties and then take a decision so that lives of people are not compromised. MEHBOOBA MUFTI , PDP president We think J&K is a sensitive state. If governor has to take issues forward successfully then consensus is necessary. GA MIR, J&K Congress chief