National Conference to boycott local body, panchayat polls in J&K; Farooq Abdullah asks Centre to clarify stand on Article 35A

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday announced that the party will not participate in the panchayat and urban local bodies (ULB) elections until the Government of India and the Jammu and Kashmir state government make their position clear on Article 35A. He also asked the state and Central governments to take effective steps for the protection of Article 35A in and outside the court. “The core group (of NC) unanimously decided that the National Conference will not participate in these elections unless and until the government of India and the state government clarify their positions in this regard and take effective steps for protection of Article 35A in and outside the courts,” Abdullah said after the meeting in Srinagar.

#BREAKING -- National Conference to boycott local body polls in Jammu & Kashmir | @islahmufti with more details pic.twitter.com/OP1m5VGSBc

— News18 (@CNNnews18) September 5, 2018

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and Farooq Abdullah’s son, Omar Abdullah also tweeted regarding the boycott stating that the central government should make their stand on article 35A clear.

It is now for the central government to clarify where it stands with regard to Art 35-A. It’s not enough to use Panchayat & Municipal elections simply to delay proceedings in court. https://t.co/R0rwfS00Cs

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) September 5, 2018

On 31 August, the Supreme Court deferred till January next year the crucial hearing on pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A, which provides special rights and privileges to the natives of Jammu and Kashmir, after the Centre and the state said that the local body polls would go on till December. The Jammu and Kashmir government had  announced the schedule for holding  the urban local bodies (ULB) and panchayat polls last week. While the urban local body polls are slated for the first week of October, the panchayat polls will take place in November-December. Farooq said the decision of the state administration to hold urban local body polls and panchayat elections was taken in a “hurried manner” and without taking into consideration the prevailing situation “created by the powers that be by unnecessarily fiddling with Article 35A”. He said that the core group resolved that National Conference would fight tooth and nail all “sinister” attempts aimed at interfering with this constitutional guarantee. He said the core group had a detailed discussion about the prevailing situation in the state with particular reference to Article 35A of the Constitution. “It was felt that any tinkering with Article 35A would prove disastrous not only for our state but for the entire country”. Farooq on Saturday  alleged that New Delhi has made “many mistakes” on Kashmir, adding that it hurts people of the state whenever issues like “revocation” of Article 35A are raised. “It is not that Delhi has not made any mistakes. It has made many mistakes. What is the need to revoke (Article) 35A? Why? People are hurt because of such things. If you want to connect hearts, then you have to do things which can win the hearts of the people. You cannot win without that,” Abdullah said in Srinagar. Earlier, the National Conference president had said the upcoming local bodies and panchayat polls were for the betterment of the people of the state. “The government has announced panchayat and town area committee elections. This is not a decision for India or Pakistan. This is a decision for making your own life better — whether you want to make your village better, address peoples’ problems or not,” he had said on Monday. He had also appealed to the public to elect good people. “A day will come when the relations between India and Pakistan will become stronger and we will come out of this misery. But for that, you will have to be prepared. You have to prepare for the municipal and panchayat polls. Elect good people and not those who will take your money and fill their pockets,” he had said. In August, the National Conference had stressed on first creating a positive environment in the state before announcing dates for the panchayat and urban local body polls. “Governor and his administration must ensure that conditions are safe for the elections. We believe that peaceful atmosphere should be created first in Kashmir so that people are ready for elections,” National Conference Kashmir provincial president, Nasir Aslam Wani, had said, adding, “There seem to be no conditions for polls. There is a need to address the anger of people so that the confidence of people on the institutions is restored.” With inputs from PTI