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

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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 BJP-led Centre has been "insensitive" to the demand of restoration of full statehood which would be an election issue.

The 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 government".

The three-phase elections to the 90-member 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 Sandhu.

The Election Commission also announced that elections to the 90-member Haryana assembly will be held on October 1 and the results for both the polls will be declared on October 4.

Congress 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 BJP's departure from the state is now certain.

"The Indian National Congress welcomes the announcement of elections in Jammu & 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 X.

The 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 J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, he alleged.

Now, the bureaucrats have also been suddenly shuffled, hours before the announcement of the polls, Kharge said.

"In the past decade, the Modi government has performed many electoral experiments in Jammu & Kashmir, but the people have time and again, rejected BJP's undemocratic tactics trampling upon their Constitutional rights," he said.

The recent spike in terrorist incidents, particularly in the Jammu region, where 18 Army/security personnel have sacrificed their lives in 27 terror attacks since June 9 is highly disconcerting, the Congress chief said.

The Kashmiri pandits and migrant workers have also suffered targeted attacks over the years, he said.

Ladakh, which had four assembly seats in the original Jammu and Kashmir legislature, will now be without any directly elected MLA, he pointed out.

"People of Jammu & 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 said.

In a post in Hindi on X about the Haryana poll dates announcement, Kharge said, "In the last 10 years, the double-engine 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 alleged.

"The 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 said.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "For the past five years, the Indian National Congress has been consistently demanding that full statehood should be restored to J&K and that assembly elections should be conducted. J&K 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 X.

The votes will be counted on October 4 for both the assemblies, the chief election commissioner told a press conference here.

The last assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in November-December 2014 and these will be the first assembly elections in the erstwhile state since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

Asked 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 can't 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, we'll win in December," Khera told PTI.

The elections are also slated to take place this year in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

The 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 it.

"This election will definitely be fought on this issue also," Khera said.

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