“Only legislature can serve people…”: Ghulam Nabi Azad demands Assembly elections in J-K

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India]: Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) Chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday demanded that there should be MLA elections in Jammu and Kashmir. He asserted that it is necessary for the union territory.

Expressing concern towards the Jammu and Kashmir elections, DPAP Chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad said that, “Last year, I may have done 500-600 public meetings. We have made a demand everywhere that an election is necessary here. Only the legislature can serve the people..”

Azad said, “Officers are good administrators, but if they behave as MLAs, then the secretariat would suffer. So they should do their work, and elections for MLAs should take place.”

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti earlier said that she wouldn’t fight an Assembly election as long as “Article 370 is restored” in J-K.

“I am never going to fight assembly elections as long as Article 370 is not restored. Whenever I took an oath as a member of the assembly it was under two constitutions, J&K Constitution and Constitution of India, with two flags at the same time”. Mufti said in a statement.

Earlier, 13 opposition parties urged the Election Commission of India to conduct elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir will come up after assembly polls and that a call on the timing of elections will be taken by the Election Commission.

Although the minister abstained from commenting on the date of the Jammu Kashmir elections, he said that the Election Commission has to take a call on the elections.

“I had clearly stated that statehood will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir after elections. The process of preparation of the voters’ list is nearing completion in the UT. Now, the Election Commission has to take a call on elections,” he said.

On August 5, 2019, the Government of India issued a Presidential order and revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by scrapping Article 370.