Jammu and Kashmir urban local body polls: BJP leader's crop burnt, petrol thrown at another's house gate

The paddy crop of a civic poll candidate in South Kashmir’s Dooru Verinag area was set on fire on Wednesday by unidentified men, according to a report. The Indian Express reported that Gul Mohammed Khan, a BJP candidate, is one of the 30 contestants whose details were recently released. The report also stated that petrol was thrown at the Srinagar residence of another BJP candidate, Showkat Raja. He was quoted as saying in the report, “The gate of our house caught fire, but it was immediately doused. There was no major damage because they put patrol on our gate.” [caption id=“attachment_5213891” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Meanwhile, two BJP candidates announced their withdrawal from the urban local body polls in Kashmir on Thursday. Ghulam Hassan Bhat, who claims to be BJP’s constituency president for Dooru in Anantnag district, on Thursday said he has decided to withdraw from the contest and also resign from the membership of the party. “The BJP government has been there for the last 4.5 years but none of the promises made by it have been fulfilled. The people were sold dreams of free (domestic cooking) gas connections and Mudra loans but nothing happened,” Bhat said. Bhat told The Indian Express, “After paddy belonging to a candidate in Dooru was set on fire on Wednesday evening, I informed my organisation to help provide security. But no action was taken and no support provided.” He said his supporters have also resigned from the party and several other BJP candidates for the Dooru Municipal Committee have withdrawn from the polls. Mehrajuddin Raina, the BJP candidate for a ward in the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), announced his withdrawal from local bodies polls through a video message. “I apologise to my people with folded hands and assure them that I will not repeat this mistake again,” Raina said. Mohammad Maqbool Mir, who had filed his nomination papers as a Congress candidate for the Hajin Municipal Committee in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, also announced his withdrawal. Militants in the Valley have threatened to target anyone who takes part in the urban local bodies and panchayat elections, but none of the withdrawing candidates made any mention of these threats. The polls are scheduled to begin from 8 October. The upcoming urban local body and municipal polls in Jammu and Kashmir will see a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, with major regional political parties – the National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – boycotting the election. With inputs from agencies