J&K admin has been outsourced to bureaucrats: JKNPP

The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) on Monday said the administration in the Union Territory seems to have been outsourced to bureaucrats from outside the state.

Alleging subversion of democracy in J&K post Article 370 abrogation, the JKNPP accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of being averse to the idea of holding Assembly elections in the new set up.

The party said that a legitimate, elected government alone could represent and honour the popular sentiment of the people of the union territory.

"The government in the Union Territory seems to have been outsourced to bureaucrats from outside the state. BJP-led government appears to be averse to holding Assembly elections in the new set up," JKNPP Chairman Harsh Dev Singh told reporters here.

The former minister said no initiative was taken to restore popular rule in Jammu and Kashmir while the appointment of a third advisor to the Lieutenant Governor from Uttar Pradesh cadre amply revealed the intentions of the centre which seemed hell bent to continue its proxy rule in the UT through bureaucrats.

With political parties discredited and discouraged and opposition parties suppressed, democracy has been reduced to a farce in J&K, he said.

Questioning the rationale behind repeated postponement of Assembly Elections in J&K, he said the Election Commission had earlier called for holding assembly and parliament polls simultaneously which did not materialise.

On fresh delimitation of assembly constituencies post Article 370 abrogation, Singh said the exercise cannot be carried out due to a provision in the J&K Reorganisation Act.

Until and unless the act is amended by both houses of parliament, no delimitation can take place in J&K, he said.