Published 18:01 IST, November 27th 2020
Kashmir police refutes Mehbooba Mufti's claim ahead of DDC polls: 'Not under house arrest'
On Friday, the Kashmir Zone Police denied PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti's assertion that she has been placed under house arrest a day ahead of the DDC polls.
- India News
- 2 min read
On Friday, the Kashmir Zone Police denied PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti's assertion that she has been placed under house arrest a day ahead of the DDC polls. As per the police, she has been asked to postpone her visit to Pulwama only due to security concerns. Earlier in the day, Mufti lamented that she was being prevented from meeting the family of PDP youth wing president Waheed Parra while BJP leaders were allowed to move in every corner of Jammu and Kashmir.
Arrested on Wednesday, Parra was remanded to 15 days of NIA custody for allegedly conspiring with Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists to get their support during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. While Mufti announced that she will hold a press conference in this regard, she claimed that the media was not allowed to enter her residence in Srinagar. Maintaining that there was no written order regarding her detention, she accused the local administration of intimidating the opposition and termed Kashmir as an "open-air prison". In the lead-up to the DDC polls, both Mufti and NC vice president Omar Abdullah alleged that candidates of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration are not being allowed to campaign freely under the pretext of the security situation.
Historic DDC polls
The DDC elections will be conducted in 8 phases between November 28 and December 19, with the counting of votes scheduled for December 22. Requisite amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, and J&K Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996, have enabled the setting up of District Development Councils, the members of which shall be directly elected by voters in the Union Territory. The DDC which will have a term of 5 years replaces the District Planning and Development Boards which were headed by a Cabinet Minister of the erstwhile state of J&K.
Addressing a press briefing, State Election Commissioner KK Sharma stated that the delimitation has been done for the respective constituencies and 280 DDCs have been identified across the Union Territory. The electoral rolls used in the Sarpanch and Panch elections that have been updated on January 1, 2020, shall be used for the DDC elections. Moreover, 25,000 central paramilitary personnel drawn from CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB are being sent by the Centre for providing security cover during the polls.
Updated 18:01 IST, November 27th 2020