If J&K DDC polls can be conducted amid COVID-19, Assembly election should also be held, says Congress

Jammu: If District Development Council (DDC) polls can be held in times of COVID-19, Assembly elections can too, Jammu and Kashmir Congress in-charge Rajni Patil said on Thursday as she demanded for an elected government in the Union Territory. She said the BJP ferried dozens of Union ministers, national leaders and film personalities to campaign in Jammu and Kashmir, “as it feared it would lose in these local elections”. Flanked by state unit president Gulam Ahmed Mir, Patil also hit out at the administration for withdrawal of security and vehicles of Congress leaders, claiming the move was aimed at stopping them from campaigning for the DDC polls. “If they (government) can hold DDC elections during the COVID-19 times, I appeal and demand holding of Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir soon, and put in place an elected government. They should do it. It is our demand,” Patil told reporters. Patil is the only national leader of the Congress to have hit the campaign trail for the DDC elections in Jammu and Kashmir. She criticised the government for holding the polls at a time when the COVID-19 situation is still not under control. “They took a wrong decision to hold these polls now. Our several top leaders were infected with COVID-19, including youth and women Congress unit heads and former ministers. It is difficult to campaign,” Patil said. On the withdrawal of security and vehicles of several Congress leaders including himself, Mir said, “Life and death is in the hands of Almighty. They withdrew the security of our leaders, former ministers and former legislators during this period. It is clear that they want us restricted to our homes.” Pleading for a uniform security policy, he said that while former ministers, former legislators and leaders are housed in ministerial bungalows with Z or Z-plus security, many opposition legislators in the UT have often faced full withdrawal of security and government accommodation. “This is sheer discrimination,” Mir added.