'Non-BJP DDC candidates not allowed to campaign freely': Abdullah & Mufti level accusation

On Wednesday, NC vice president Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti accused the J&K administration of favouring BJP and J&K Apni Party in the run-up to the DDC polls. According to Mufti, non-BJP candidates for the District Development Council elections are not being permitted to campaign freely as against that of BJP and J&K Apni Party who are getting full security to move around. She questioned the sincerity of the Central government in fostering democracy in the Union Territory.

Seconding her charge, Abdullah questioned the very rationale of conducting polls when candidates are being allegedly stopped from campaigning. He alleged that the J&K administration was using the security situation as a pretext to lock up candidates opposed to BJP. The DDC elections will be conducted in 8 phases between November 28 and December 19, with the counting of votes scheduled for December 22. 

Read: Fadnavis Attacks Cong For `becoming Part Of' Gupkar Alliance

First-ever DDC polls in J&K

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 polls for the vacant seats of sarpanches, panches and Urban Local Bodies will be held simultaneously with the DDC polls.

He mentioned 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. 

Congress to fight DDC polls alone

On October 15, a meeting of all the Gupkar Declaration barring for Congress was held wherein a formal alliance- People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration was announced. However, confusion persisted over Congress' association with the alliance as the party leadership at the Central and state level differed over its political stance in J&K. All doubts were seemingly put to rest on November 15 when J&K Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir declared that the PAGD constituents shall fight the DDC polls together.

However, Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala not only ruled out his party being a part of the PAGD but also indirectly expressed disapproval of Abdullah and Mufti's controversial remarks. Subsequently, the J&K Congress chief made a U-turn on Tuesday. Mentioning that no state-level Congress leader had participated in the meetings of the PAGD until now, he said that his party would fight the election on its own symbol.

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