Urges NC, PDP To Join Polls, Says Elections Are Neither For Delhi Nor Me
SRINAGAR Governor Satyapal Malik on Saturday broke on Saturday requested political parties to participate in the elections, stating that Article 35A. “Matter of Article 35 A is sub-judice for a long time. We had said that we can’t take a stand until a new government is formed here. I would like to request them to participate in the election. Elections are neither for Delhi nor me but for the people of J&K”, Malik said. He said that both NC and PDP participated in the Ladakh elections when article 35A matter was still pending before Supreme Court.
The Municipal Elections shall be held in 4 phases. Chief Electoral Officer Shaleen Kabra informed that the date of polling would be Oct 08, Oct 10, Oct 13 & Oct 16 while counting shall take place on Oct 20 after all the phases are over. Poll hours will be from 7 am to 2 pm.
Earlier in August, protest and shutdown was observed at several places in Kashmir after clashes broke out between youths and security forces following rumours about the scrapping of Article 35A, which accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir.
Malik became the 13th Governor of Jammu and Kashmir by replacing NN Vohra whose term as J&Ks governor ended on June 28 but was extended till Amarnath Yatras conclusion. The state of Jammu and Kashmir continue to be under Governors rule since June 20 after the BJP broke the three-year-old alliance with Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Earlier, both the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had announced that they will boycott the coming municipal and panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir.