Peoples Conference (PC) chairman Sajad Lone has said that he would not link elections with the restoration of statehood, reflecting a willingness to follow the Centre's timeline to hold elections after the delimitation process in the Union Territory and restore status of statehood later.
“I would say that the statehood should be restored now. Not as a matter of charity, but as a matter of right. I wouldn’t link elections with statehood,” Mr. Lone said on Thursday.
Unlike National Conference’s Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party’s Mehbooba Mufti who have decided not to contest elections in the Union Territory but only in the State of J&K, Mr. Lone said, “I will not say that I will myself boycott the elections and the party will contest. We all are equal.”
On the all-party meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24, Mr. Lone said: “There are no winners and losers. It is a long process.”
Enabling environment
Mr. Lone said leaders have to make an enabling environment for facilitating delivery. “And that cannot be done by rhetoric. Let us not by our rhetoric create hurdles. And if delivery becomes difficult, there is only one loser, the people of Kashmir,” he said.
Mr. Lone’s party has come under criticism from the Gupkar Alliance leaders for failing to raise the issue of Article 370 with the PM and describing it as sub judice.
Meanwhile, the People’s Conference has disowned Muzaffar Hussian Baigh, who interjected and stopped other leaders from raising Article 370 during the meeting.
“We cannot totally divulge in detail what we said during the all-party meeting. I don't think there was any single leader who did not make their people proud. It was held after more than two years of upheaval. We hope it starts a phase of reconciliation between Delhi and Srinagar,” Mr. Lone said.
Mr. Lone, however, refused to take questions on the controversy raked up by Mr. Baigh.
He said if he were to give marks, he would give equal marks to all Kashmiri leaders present at the all-party meeting.
He was also unconvinced about the politics of election boycott. “We have boycotted elections for 15-20 years, what if it is a trap to scare away all the good people and bring in their proxies?” he said.
Mr. Lone, who quit the Gupkar Alliance earlier this year, said he was ready to be part of the delimitation process if invited.
Early election
At a separate meeting, Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari also demanded early elections without any rider of statehood.
“The void between the people and government institutions is increasing exponentially in the absence of an elected government. People are being pushed from pillar to post, while their pressing issues go unnoticed. There is mounting resentment and alienation. The only panacea to end their sufferings at the grassroots level is to give them a representative form of government,” Mr. Bukhari said.
He urged the Centre to fast-track the delimitation process.
