JKNPP demands local bodies polls in conformity with HC orders

Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) today demanded announcement of a time bound local bodies polls in the state as per a recent verdict of the J&K High Court.
"We hail the recent verdict of the J&K High Court for time bound local bodies polls in the state to be concluded within a period of six months. We demand announcement of polls in J&K," JKNPP chairman Harsh Dev Singh said.
The former minister added that it was a relief for the civic bodies which were not only being ignored in terms of development, but also deprived of the benefits of democratic decentralisation as envisaged under law.

Flaying the state government, Singh said that with the tentative election schedule for urban and rural local bodies having already been announced by the Governor and all preparations having been made by the Election Department, it was expected thatthe incumbent government would not create obstacles in the process.
He added that even the much needed amendment for use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in place of ballot papers in the local bodies polls had also been effected by the Governor by promulgating an ordinance.
Referring to unconfirmed reports of the BJP-PDP government contemplating filing an appeal before the High Court for postponement of such elections, Singh said that any such move was frought with dangerous consequences and would be fought tooth-and-nail as local bodies polls have been repeatedly deferred for political reasons alone.

Emphasising on the urgency of early elections to local bodies, Singh said that the state had already lost several hundreds of crores of rupees due to its reluctance to hold the municipal polls.
He regretted the state had been deprived of thousands of crores of rupees for development of municipal areas which have been withheld by the Central government over the last six years due to the failure of the state government to hold municipal bodies polls.
Reminding the BJP-PDP coalition of their assurance during the Budget Session of 2015for holding early elections, Singh regretted the 'inexplicable' delay and repeated postponements despite the state Elections Authorities having indicated their preparedness on many occasions.