BJP deliberately delayed Assembly election in J&K: Cong leader

A senor Congress leader Wednesday claimed that the BJP government at the Centre deliberately delayed the state assembly elections as "it is enjoying power through bureaucracy in Jammu and Kashmir".

State Congress Vice President and former minister G M Saroori also accused the Governor's administration of "denying democratic rights" to the people of the state.

He also criticised the Election Commission of India for not holding general and assembly polls simultaneously in the state.

"BJP wanted to enjoy power in Jammu and Kashmir through bureaucracy and did not want to lose it by holding Assembly elections simultaneously with Parliamentary elections," he said.

Saroori said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had promised on the floor of parliament that security would be provided to each and every candidate and sufficient forces were available in the state.

"But now, the ECI is saying it does not have sufficient number of men to provide security to all candidates and cannot not hold joint elections," Saroori said.

He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had always played divisive politics and after politicising the Ram Mandir issue, they were now misusing the armed forces to garner votes.

"All assurances of the BJP government in the Centre were a big lie to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as payments for most of the centrally sponsored schemes were pending since the past two years," he said.

Urging the EC to review its decision of delaying Assembly elections in the state, he said it should ensure that a democratically elected government is installed soon.

He also accused the Governor's administration of adopting discriminatory attitude towards the Chenab valley region.