AAP boycotts EC’s all-party meet in Jammu, calls it BJP’s mouthpiece

The Aam Aadmi Party leaders boycotted the all-party meeting called the Election Commission and staged a protest outside its Jammu office on Monday. AAP leaders, including Harsh Dev Singh, Yashpal Kundal, TS Tony, and Gagan Partap Singh, participated in the protest. Former miner and senior party leader Harsh Dev Singh called these meetings an eyewash. “ Dozens of such meetings have been held in past, but none of the suggestions made the opposition have been taken on board. Only the decisions taken the BJP are implemented. First, the delimitation exercise and now the addition of 25 lakh outside voters show that the EC is only implementing the BJP’s suggestions,” he said. The BJP does not really want assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which is why they are being delayed and denied. “The meeting is a joke, mere optics. In reality, the BJP does not want an end to its proxy rule in J&K”. Calling the addition of non-local voters an “unacceptable and unconstitutional” move, he said, “A resident from another state cannot be a voter if he is working or temporarily residing in Jammu and Kashmir. The law is being misinterpreted and misrepresented because BJP has lost ground in J&K. They want to import the voters from outside and change the demography of J&K so as to rig the elections.” Tony, who called the delimitation exercise a stab in the back, said, “We are stiffly opposed to the proposed addition of non-local voters. A floating population cannot be made permanent voters.This violates the law.” He added that the Aam Aadmi Party was not opposed to granting voting rights to West Pakan Refugees, the Valmiki community and the Gorkha community, who has been living in Jammu and Kashmir for decades, but to the addition of non-local voters. “Both the election commission and BJP are toying with the aspirations of local voters. Clearly, the election commission is now working as a frontal wing for the BJP,” he said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A principal correspondent, Ravi Krishnan Khajuria is the bureau chief at Jammu. He covers politics, defence, crime, health and civic issues for Jammu city.
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