news details |
|
|
| Assembly polls under Governor's rule will hurt NC | | Future of Omar | | Rustam
JAMMU, Sept 26: It's almost certain that J&K will be under Governor's Rule in the first week of January 2015. The Election Commission has been left with no other option but to delay Assembly elections by four to six months in view of the devastation caused by floods both in Jammu province and parts of Kashmir valley. "It is not conceivable to hold polls in the state with thousands of people displaced from their homes and a large number reported missing. A final call will be taken in November as the term of the Assembly ends in January and the new Government has to be in place by 19 January," an Election Commission functionary has reportedly said. The new Government has to be in place on January 5, 2014 and not on January 19 as reported. For, Omar Abdullah took over as Chief Minister on January 5, 2009 and his term expires on January 4.
It has also been reported: "Conditions in J&K are not conducive for holding the elections and the Election Commission would be required to verify the electoral rolls, something which is not possible under the present circumstances. In December, many parts of the state will become unapproachable and the soonest the exercise for verifying the electoral data can begin is in March. Thus the Commission, after its final review, will have to write to the Centre expressing its inability to hold elections on time due to extraordinary reasons that exist in the state".
All this should indicate that Governor's Rule in the state is in the offing. J&K is the solitary in the country which can be brought under Governor's Rule and the state can remain under Governor's Rule for a maximum period of six months. In other states of the Union, only President's Rule could be imposed in case it is felt that the constitutional machinery in the concerned state has broken down. Once J&K is brought under Governor's rule, everything would be managed by the Union Government. In other words, the immediate fallout of the imposition of Governor's Rule in the state would be that the entire relief and rehabilitation work would be done by the Union Government. It would be a good development considering the fact that the Omar Abdullah-led NC-Congress coalition Government has utterly failed the people of the state. Even after 20 days of devastation, the state Government continues to remain non-functional for all practical purposes. If any thing, those at the helm of affairs have only, according to the PDP and BJP leadership, messed up relief operations for political gains at the cost of the suffering people. That the state Government has failed to discharge its obligations towards the flood-affected people could be seen from the fact that there are localities parts of which are still under water. Of course, water has receded but not completely.
Since the entire administration and relief and rehabilitation work would be in the hands of the Governor, who is representative of the President of India, Omar Abdullah will not be in a position to use or misuse the official machinery for electoral gains. To be more precise, the imposition of Governor's Rule would pave way for a free and fair electoral exercise. It would not be an advantage to the "unpopular and corrupt" NC and equally unpopular Congress party. In short, the polls under the Governor's Rule would hurt the coalition of irresponsible NC and Congress. Indeed, the political future of Omar Abdullah is bleak. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
