Srinagar, Oct 10: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will launch district-level protests against the National Conference-led government in Jammu and Kashmir, accusing it of ignoring the concerns of poor and disadvantaged sections of society.
Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma said the party had decided to take the issues to the streets after discussing them at a meeting of its district presidents and district general secretaries.
“The BJP’s responsibility in Jammu and Kashmir is that of the opposition. The government here is working in a manner that keeps it miles away from the common people, particularly the poor,” Sharma told reporters.
He said the party had tried to raise these issues in the Legislative Assembly but had not received a satisfactory response from the government.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to these issues and difficulties. We have decided that we will take up the cause of the poor and the oppressed and fight the government on the streets,” he said.
Sharma said the party would organise protests in every district of Jammu and Kashmir in the coming days to hold the government accountable.
Sharma alleges conspiracy to destabilise India
Asked about protests in Delhi against the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Sharma accused the Congress and other opposition parties of attempting to destabilise the country.
“This is a big conspiracy to destabilise India and create unrest by involving as many young people as possible,” he said, alleging that some forces wanted a change of regime similar to developments in Nepal and Bangladesh.
He accused the opposition of trying to generate public distrust in the Chief Election Commissioner, who heads a constitutional institution, and said electoral defeats should not be blamed on the poll machinery.
“The party that has been losing elections continuously for the last 12 years now claims that the Chief Election Commissioner, who took office a year ago, is responsible for its defeats,” Sharma said.
Defending the SIR exercise, Sharma argued that electoral rolls should not contain duplicate, deceased or otherwise ineligible voters.
“As a resident of Jammu and Kashmir, I support the SIR. We should never allow an illegal voter to vote here,” he said, referring to alleged cases of people from Bangladesh and Pakistan voting in India.
Sharma cited figures of 6.5 crore voters who had moved from one location to another, 2.5 crore deceased voters and one crore voters whose addresses could not be traced. He argued that voters who had shifted residence or died should be removed from the relevant electoral rolls.
“Should a voter be registered in two places? Should the names of people who have died remain on the rolls? Should voters whose addresses cannot be traced remain there?” he asked.
The figures and characterisation of voter deletions were cited by Sharma in defence of the exercise and have not been independently verified here.
Challenges Omar Abdullah on delimitation
Responding to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s allegation that the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir had benefited the BJP, Sharma said the National Conference had gained the most from it.
“If he believes that the BJP or the Election Commission manipulated the process, the biggest moral responsibility lies with Omar Abdullah. He should leave the government,” Sharma said.
