Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) on Saturday announced that it will contest the District Development council (DDC) polls, slated to be held for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir from November 28.
The decision of JKPCC comes at a time when the alliance formed by the mainstream leaders of J&K is deliberating the issue in their first meeting in Jammu.
Addressing a news conference in Jammu, Ghulam Ahmad Mir said that after consultation with all the leaders of Congress party from different districts, they have decided to contest the upcoming DDC polls. He said Congress is the oldest party in J&K and it has never stayed away from the democratic process.
“We will not give a free field to BJP in the DDC polls,” he said, adding that the Congress party has some serious concern regarding the conduct of DDC polls in J&K and all these issues were put up before the State Election authorities.
“There are some security concerns also and we have forwarded all our concerns before higher authorities and state election authorities, who have assured us that these issues will be looked into,” he said.
“The delimitation of DDC constituencies is uneven and at some places constituencies are based on one and a half lakh population and at some these are on a few thousand population, which shows uneven delimitation,” Mir said, adding that even the reservation criteria followed is not proper.
Mir further said that BJP has followed anti-people policies in Jammu and Kashmir in past years, which includes downgrading the State & its bifurcation and people are ready to teach BJP a lesson.