Jammu, March 11 (Scoop News) – Taking strong exception to State Government‘s casual response to popular demand for implementation of 73rd amendment of the Indian Constitution before holding Panchayat elections, the BJP State Chief Spokesperson and National Executive Member Dr. Jitendra Singh today said that the coalition government’s inclination to bring out notification of Panchayat election is in total disregard of democratic propriety, particularly at a time when the entire top state leadership of major political party BJP including its State President Shamsher Singh Manhas have been on a sustained protest campaign on the issue.
The BJP views holding of such farcical election as more of a nomination than election with 30 to 40 per cent members appointed by the government, alleged Dr. Jitendra Singh and said that it amounts to gross abuse of electoral process. Instead of ensuring more empowerment at village and Panchayat level, such an election would infact lead to disempowerment of people at grass-root level because of the imposition of state appointed panchayts, he further alleged.
Dr. Singh accused the Congress Ministers in coalition of being mute participants in this exercise inspite of the fact that implementation of 73rd and 74th Amendments was part of their party manifesto. The National Conference, on the other hand, always says that lack of free fair elections have contributed to militancy and at the same time it is contradicting itself by holding a Panchayat election in a manner which could further alienate the masses, he added.
The BJP under its State President Shamsher Singh Manhas will continue its protest against holding of such elections, informed Dr. Singh and warned the Central government that in the absence of genuinely elected representatives, the hundreds of crores of Central grant released for Panchayats is likely to be misappropriated by coalition Ministers who are already reeling under several corruption charges.