JK poll dates: Congress says Centre insensitive to statehood restoration demand, will be election issue

With the Election Commission declaring the dates for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir the Congress on Friday welcomed the announcement but said it is unfortunate that the BJPled Centre has been insensitive to the demand of restoration of full statehood which would be an election issueThe opposition party also alleged that the recent moves by the Union government have only added to the powers of the lieutenant governor in Jammu and Kashmir making a mockery of the powers of a duly elected state governmentThe threephase elections to the 90member Jammu and Kashmir assembly will be held on September 18 September 25 and October 1 Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told a press conference in the presence of Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh SandhuThe Election Commission also announced that elections to the 90member Haryana assembly will be held on October 1 and the results for both the polls will be declared on October 4Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the people of Jammu and Kashmir are looking towards his party and its allies to usher in justice while wait of the people of Haryana is now going to end because the BJPrsquos departure from the state is now certainThe Indian National Congress welcomes the announcement of elections in Jammu amp Kashmir The Supreme Court had set a deadline for the conduct of the elections and we had demanded that elections must be held at the earliest to secure Constitutional rights and put a full stop to this mechanism of being ruled by bureaucracy Kharge said in a post on XThe Modi government wants to control the revived state administration of Jammu and Kashmir therefore in July they gave more powers to the LG by amending the Rules under Section 55 of the JampK Reorganisation Act 2019 he allegedNow the bureaucrats have also been suddenly shuffled hours before the announcement of the polls Kharge saidIn the past decade the Modi government has performed many electoral experiments in Jammu amp Kashmir but the people have time and again rejected BJPs undemocratic tactics trampling upon their Constitutional rights he saidThe recent spike in terrorist incidents particularly in the Jammu region where 18 Armysecurity personnel have sacrificed their lives in 27 terror attacks since June 9 is highly disconcerting the Congress chief saidThe Kashmiri pandits and migrant workers have also suffered targeted attacks over the years he saidLadakh which had four assembly seats in the original Jammu and Kashmir legislature will now be without any directly elected MLA he pointed outPeople of Jammu amp Kashmir are yearning for change They are looking towards the Congress and its allies to usher in justice Congress workers must reach out to the people and work hard to ensure our victory in the state Kharge saidIn a post in Hindi on X about the Haryana poll dates announcement Kharge said In the last 10 years the doubleengine BJP government in Haryana has given nothing but deceit to the people Our farmers and youth both are suffering Unemployment in the state is at a record high There have been many recruitment scams Law and order is at a standstill The BJP has hatched a conspiracy to divide the social fabric of the state he allegedThe Congress is the only party that can give Haryana a credible option Congress is a party that takes along 36 communities We have done development in the past and we are determined to bring Haryana back on the path of development Congress workers should reach out to the people and leave no stone unturned to ensure our victory Kharge saidCongress general secretary incharge communications Jairam Ramesh said For the past five years the Indian National Congress has been consistently demanding that full statehood should be restored to JampK and that assembly elections should be conducted JampK still awaits full statehood Recent moves by the Union Govt have only added to the powers of the LG there making a mockery of the powers of a duly elected state government Ramesh said in a post on XThe votes will be counted on October 4 for both the assemblies the chief election commissioner told a press conference hereThe last assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in NovemberDecember 2014 and these will be the first assembly elections in the erstwhile state since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019Asked about the announcement of polls in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said We were expecting that dates for all four assemblies will be announced because only yesterday we heard the Prime Minister loudly shouting that there should be One Nation One Election Now if they canrsquot do four assemblies together then why do they give these hollow slogans The expectation of the Congress is that we will win all four two we will win in October and the other two wersquoll win in December Khera told PTIThe elections are also slated to take place this year in Jharkhand and MaharashtraThe Congress and the INDIA bloc has been repeatedly raising the issue of restoration of statehood for Jammu and Kashmir but the government has been insensitive about itThis election will definitely be fought on this issue also Khera saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever