Agencies:

Gupkar Alliance Leaders accuse authorities of Aiding BJP in J&K Local Body Polls

Srinagar
December 11, 2020

The neutrality of authorities in the District Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir has come under sharp criticism on Thursday from leaders of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), who alleged that the administration was helping the BJP.

The accusations stemmed from several incidents late on Wednesday and on Thursday - including the reported beating up of three journalists in South Kashmir who were covering the polls, detention of a Congress leader's relative in Uri and a cordon and search operation by the Army in Shopian, allegedly to stop people from voting.

The PAGD is an alliance of several mainstream political parties, including National Conference (NC), PDP, People's Conference and the CPI(M), which are contesting the District Development Council (DDC) polls together in order to keep the BJP and its allies out.

NC Vice President and Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah alleged that the keepers of the law were more than happy to become lawbreakers "if it serves their interest of cosying up to the BJP & it's offshoots in Kashmir".
"The entire machinery of the administration has taken upon itself the responsibility of helping the BJP in the DDC polls," Mr. Abdullah tweeted.