Cong targets governor over mayor prediction

NEWDELHI:THE Congress has taken exception to Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik’s remarks that a “foreign-educated person” will be the next Srinagar mayor. The governor gave the comment to a TV channel on Monday, when the first-phase of the J&K civic elections began.

Senior J&K Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Monga said that ongoing local bodies’ elections have lost credibility due to Malik’s remarks. “The BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] and the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] have already decided who the next Srinagar mayor will be. The governor has failed to uphold the Constitutional authority of the Raj Bhavan. Being the constitutional head of the state, he should not play in the hands of the BJP and RSS,” he said.

The governor’s remark was widely interpreted as alluding to Junaid Azim Mattu, who quit the National Conference leader to contest the municipal polls from Srinagar city.

“It is surprising to see such an irresponsible statement having come from the governor of the state. The statement is going to cause a severe damage to the ongoing electoral exercise in the state,” Monga said.

BJP state spokesman Altaf Thakur said that only Malik can explain his statement. “Being a political party we will try to get numbers so that Srinagar will get new BJP mayor,” he said.

Earlier, the National Conference had said Malik’s remarks have put a big question mark on the impartiality of the governor’s office. “The ongoing election process is a smokescreen to hide the machinations of the governor’s office to throttle the democratic institutions in the state,” said a joint statement of senior NC leader, Mubarak Gul, MLA, Shamima Firdous, secretary, Irfan Shah, provincial vice president, Muhammad Syed Akhoon and Srinagar district president, Peer Afaq Ahmad.