Srinagar: Political agitation is witnessing in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of Rajya Sabha and Assembly by-elections. The ruling National Conference (NC) and the opposition BJP are again running a counter-accusation campaign to throw mud at each other.
Bypolls to two assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir will be held on November 11. The Budgam seat is crucial for the National Conference as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah won that seat as well as Ganderbal. But he retained his family’s stronghold Ganderbal and gave up the Budgam seat. The second seat is Nagrota, which fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Devendra Singh Rana in October 2024. Therefore, a lot is at stake for both parties in the by-elections.
Leader of Opposition in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Sunil Sharma has blamed the National Conference (NC) and the Congress for the rise of terrorism. The senior BJP leader has questioned whether the demand for state status was for the killing of innocent Kashmiri citizens. He said that terrorism started under the rule of these parties, while there have been very few law and order irregularities under the BJP rule. He claimed that peace and stability have been restored under the BJP rule.
At the same time, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Chaudhary hit back at the BJP leader saying that if Sharma gets a narco test, he will also want state status. “He said, “You ask the leader of the opposition.” You should ask the lollipop leader. He speaks every day and blames us. The Jammu division was devastated by the floods. The same Jammu division that gave 28 seats to the BJP. Houses, crops and roads were damaged and people lost their savings and wedding jewelry. Have you (BJP) given them compensation? They don’t dare to go out to the people and just talk to the media.”
Requesting Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to approve the business conduct rules, he said the file was still awaiting approval as it was cleared by the cabinet this year.
These rules will ensure the demarcation of powers between the elected government and the Lieutenant Governor in the Union Territory, where law and order falls under the jurisdiction of the Lieutenant Governor in addition to transfers of IAS or IPS.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has described the Lieutenant Governor as a hindrance to smooth governance. But BJP national general secretary and in-charge of the Jammu and Kashmir unit Tarun Chugh accused Omar Abdullah of not fulfilling the promises made to the people in the Assembly in the last one year after the elections. “He said the National Conference was indulging in “”political tourism”” rather than focusing on governance issues and that he did not care about the tourism sector, which has been facing difficult conditions since the Pahalgam terror attack.”
Meanwhile, jailed MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh alias Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), the war of words between the National Conference and the BJP ahead of the Budgam by-elections is a script to garner people’s sympathy. “AIP chief spokesman Inam Un Nabi said, “”This is his old script.” Behave like victims, partner like opportunists. The reality is that the National Conference and the BJP are political cousins, one rules from Delhi and the other from Srinagar.
