early times report
Srinagar, Dec 9: An organisation of Panchayat members from Jammu and Kashmir today claimed the vote to the coalition government in the recent Legislative Council polls under Panchayat quota was not based on ideology but only to support it in strengthening the grassroot level institutions.
"The ruling parties are claiming that the victory in the elections is the success of the policies adopted by the coalition government.
However, the fact is that the verdict of Panches and Sarpanches was not an ideological vote but vote for the sitting government and irrespective of who was in chair," spokesman of All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference (AJKPC), Ghulam Hassan Punzoo, told reporters here.
He warned the government of "dire consequences" if their demands are not met by January 3 and announced the group will observe the Republic Day as "the day of mourning".
"If the promises are kept then we would support the government, otherwise they should be ready for consequences," Punzoo added.
Punzoo said they wanted to support the hands of the present government and would have supported even PDP or BJP had they been in power.
He said the group, at first, had decided to boycott the elections but participated on the insistence of Pradesh Congress Committee president Saifuddin Soz, who is also the chairman of the coalition governments co-ordination Committee.
Punzoo claimed that Soz, in a letter, had appreciated the role of AJKPC in strengthening Panchayat Raj system in the state and asked the group to support the coalition government and assured the demands of Panchayat members would be met.
AJKPC decided to vote for the government keeping in view the interests of the Panchayats, Punzoo said adding, even after the results have been declared nothing has been done to empower the institutions.
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