It was all due to the initiative of veteran politician and former Chief Minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah that opposition parties had announced to hold a protest against the Union Government but the National Conference president himself skipped today's event.
Not only Dr. Farooq Abdullah but also the president of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) and another former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti also skipped the protest.
Today's protest was organized against the BJP-led government for adopting delay tactics in holding maiden assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Important to mention here that the decision to hold the all-party protest was jointly announced by Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti during a meeting at Jammu on October 4.
The protest was supposed to be led by National Conference president Dr. Farooq Abdullah. It was announced that Dr. Farooq Abdullah could not make it to the venue due to "ill health".
"We have unanimously decided that all of us would stage a peaceful protest and in this context would send a letter to the government's divisional commissioner for a peaceful protest," Farooq told reporters after chairing a meeting of opposition parties on October 4.
Opposition blames BJP for delaying assembly elections in J&K
In the absence of Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, opposition parties including the National Conference, Congress, and PDP, on Tuesday staged a dharna for restoration of democratic and constitutional rights in the Union Territory.
In the absence of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, NC leaders led by provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta participated in the protest.
J&K Congress and like minded parties organised sit-in demonstration at Maharaja Hari Singh Park, Jammu.
— J&K Congress (@INCJammuKashmir) October 10, 2023
The demonstration was against the trampling of constitutional rights of people of J&K, rising unemployment, drug menace & inflation. pic.twitter.com/4J0yBi8dFK
Likewise, in the absence of Mehbooba Mufti all senior leaders of the party in Jammu, including vice-president Abdul Hameed Choudhary and former MLC Firdous Tak, were part of the protest.
Leaders and workers of various parties including CPI(M), National Panthers Party (NPP), Awami National Conference, Shiv Sena (UBT), Awami National Conference, and social organizations turned up for the protest.
CEC on Monday announced to conduct elections at an "appropriate time"
Election Commission of Monday said that polls in the polls in UT will be held at the "appropriate time".
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Monday said that the polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be held when the commission deems it the "right time" keeping in mind the security situation and other polls being held in the Union Territory.
Replying to a question after his press conference on the preparedness and dates for assembly election in five states, Rajiv Kumar said that the security situation will be taken into account before conducting polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
"The decision to be taken at the right time as per the security situation and other simultaneous elections in Jammu and Kashmir," the CEC said.
