KL Report

Srinagar

Lambasting the National Conference led coalition regime for its failure to conduct Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) elections, patron of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Sunday said that depriving citizens of their democratic rights and eroding sanctity of democratic institutions are the only noticeable achievements of the four year tenure of NC lead regime.

Addressing a meeting of senior party leaders and office bearers of Jammu district, Mufti took the coalition regime to task for delaying ULBs elections which were due in the month of February 2010.  He questioned the very intension of this regime to hold the much awaited ULBs elections.

PDP patron said that elections of ULBs including Jammu and Srinagar Municipal Corporations were scheduled to be held in the month of February 2010 but the government has been postponing these elections with one or other excuse. “I failed to understand why government is shying away from its duty to conduct these elections. Formation of ULBs are must to empower the people of urban areas”, he said and added that in a democratic system it was necessary to make representative character of all democratic institutions to ensure peoples’ participation in these institutions.

Taking a dig at coalition regime for not fulfilling its promises of conducting local bodies elections, Mufti pointed out that during the last three years this government has repeatedly announced to conduct these elections but these announcements remained only on papers. “Even in the Governor’s Address during the last budget session of the Assembly, the government has promised to conduct local bodies elections in the month of April 2012”, he recalled, adding, “the way government is hesitating to conduct these elections it substantiate our apprehensions that this regime is not interested in conducting local bodies elections”.

He said that the Centre has blocked grants worth crores for urban development because the state government has failed to constitute duly elected local bodies.

PDP patron said “due to prevailing system in the ULBs there is no accountability and transparency and this situation suits the ruling coalition so the government is creating hurdles in conducting ULBs elections”. “Priority of this regime is not to empower people by strengthening democratic institutions but those at the helm of the affairs want to accomplish their nefarious designs by controlling such institutions through undemocratic means”, he observed and cautioned that such attitude of the ruling party would be proved disastrous for the State. “With its assiduous efforts PDP had restored faith of the people in democracy and democratic institutions but this regime during last four years has again shattered peoples’ faith”, he maintained.

Mufti, however, said that it was a historical fact that National Conference has always sabotaged democratic institutions in the State be it assembly or other democratic institutions at grass root level.

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