STATE TIMES NEWS
RAMNAGAR: Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), Harsh Dev Singh on Thursday expressed his gratitude to the people of Ramnagar constituency for their love, affection and great support provided to him in the recent Assembly elections.
He was addressing party activists and supporters in Ramnagar and Majalta in various programmes organized by the local activists of the constituency.
Addressing the largely attended gatherings, Harsh said that rhetorical overtures of the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues who visited virtually every nook and corner of the State overshadowed the developmental initiatives undertaken in the different areas.
He said that the people of the State particularly Jammu region were taken for a ride due to exaggerated dissonance and loud pronouncements made by BJP’s central leadership.
He said that hundreds of crores were spent by saffron party in J and K in the form of chartered planes, helicopters and for promotion of Election campaign in various forms besides abuse of official machinery by central leadership thus vitiating the very spirit of free and fair elections.
He further said that it was the first time in the history of the state that the Prime Minister had held a record number of election rallies in the State and virtually campaigned at street level in a bid to promote the divisive agenda of BJP.
Moreover, the frequent aerial visits by the Prime Minister and other central Ministers using chartered helicopters had added to the political chaos and disturbance by imposing undeclared curfew like situation, thus denying the right of election campaign to all other political parties except the BJP and causing public inconvenience.
He added that dozens of crores were spent in each constituency by the Saffron party to influence the voters by coercion and undue influence. Harsh wondered from where these funds had been procured and how would BJP justify the ‘level playing field when there is no ceiling limit set for the poll expenditure incurred by the political parties.
Harsh further deplored that the BJP had used the State and the Central machinery including the MPs, Bollywood stars and the Union ministers for disseminating false propaganda through mere rhetoric and rants to lure the voters.
He sought ‘White Paper’ from Central and the State Government to publically disclose the sources of funds and the subsequent expenses incurred in the said elections by the BJP.
Questioning the sanctity of elections, Harsh asked how far is election free and fair and how would sincere and honest citizen contest elections? He also questioned the role of the independent observers and the Election Commission of India who were silent spectators to this ugly show of wealth which has raised serious questions marks over the credibility of elections process. He was also skeptical about the future of Indian democracy which according to him would become a puppet in the hands of the few ‘Political Capitalists’ and erode the Lincoln’s phrase – “Govt of the people, by the people and for the people” if not checked and controlled sooner.