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| PDF, CPM blow 'punch 'on Govt | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 1: As the countdown for the polling for four seats of Legislative Council under Panchayat quota has begun, more jolts for alliance partners NC and Congress came to fore with a sizable number of Panches and Sarpanches announcing to boycott the polls. Apart from Kashmir and some parts of Jammu region, the panches and sarpanches in Ladakh including Zanskar and Kargil today decided to stay away from this exercise. What came as political blow for NC, Congress alliance on the day campaign ended is the statement which came from its own allies PDF and CPM legislators loaded with criticism the way coalition government conducted the whole exercise of elections.
Even though the observers are looking at the statement with a pinch of salt and a move for own political consumption by the two veteran politicians from valley , yet for the alliance partners NC and Congress who are desperately looking for support from each and every corner, given the present situation of contest not being so smooth or one sided as they would have envisaged, the criticism has far reaching consequences. What makes the joint statement of PDF president Hakim Mohammad Yasin and CPM leader MY Tarigami assume some weight is also their appeal to the Panches and Sarpanches to cast their votes in manner as their conscience guides them.
While it is a different matter that the statement from the two leaders came on the day when the stalwarts of both NC and Congress have completed their job in so far as the joint campaign programmes, conventions , rallies and scores of public meetings are concerned. Why did they choose to remain silent for this entire period is a moot question with apparent answers of their relations with the coalition partners, yet there is point in what they contended in the statement today. Their basic contention is that the way coalition went ahead with conducting this exercise and seeking votes in the name of parties will prove damaging and weaken the institution of Panchayat Raj.
By canvassing in the name of parties or deciding to conduct the elections on party basis , both NC and Congress has created deep divisions among the Panches and Sarpanches , which is not a healthy sigh for their functioning, the statement says adding that it will eventually impact the functioning of these democratic institutions on the ground level, something which that will make the Panchayats redundant. The crux of what the two leaders contend is that Panchayat polls in the state were conducted in the state nearly after 30 years and in that sense these are very precious institutions . While the Panchayat polls were conducted on non party basis , an exercise which has been appreciated , by conducting the polls for four seats in the upper House, the coalition government has only politicized the exercise.
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