Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday announced to stay away from the upcoming urban local bodies and panchayat polls scheduled to be held between October and December in embattled Jammu and Kashmir. This is the second major mainstream political party after National Conference (NC) that chose to boycott the polls linking it with the uncertainty hovering over the constitutionally guaranteed special status to the state that has been threatened through a series of litigations in the Supreme Court.
Observers say that more than the anxiety on the future of the special status of the state, the two parties are wary on the security situation in the Valley. The growing number of militants and their public support, especially in the southern parts of Kashmir, has made the participation in polls a dangerous proposition.
Talking to reporters after a meeting of party legislators and senior functionaries in capital Srinagar, PDP President Mehbooba Mufti announced that her party would not participate in the elections as the prevailing situation in Kashmir was not favourable.
She said that the party will not contest the election till the government takes positive steps to safeguard the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mehbooba appealed the state government to defer the polls till things get clear on Article 35 A. She said PDP appeals Centre & State governments to clear doubts of people related to the apprehensions in relation to petitions seeking abrogation of Article 35A and Article 370.
Mehbooba recalled that during her tenure as Chief Minister she personally conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that any fiddling with State's special status won't be tolerated. She claimed that she told the PM that in such a situation her party would quit the coalition. She said that any tinkering with 35 A won't be tolerated at any cost.
Earlier, Mehbooba Mufti had called a party meeting to decide about the participation in the upcoming Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies elections, already announced by the Governor Administration.
The National Conference, on September 5 announced boycott of upcoming elections after seeking clarification from the Central Government about the protection of Article 35 A in and outside the courts.
The separatists in Kashmir were the first to call for a complete boycott to the upcoming polls. The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), a grouping of top separatist leaders --Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik--has already called for boycott of these elections in the State. Recently, the JRL issued a statement against the conduct of elections and all the mainstream political parties alleging them to be "collaborators of Indian Union". The JRL has urged people to boycott the upcoming municipal elections with the spirit of denying recognition to National Conference, PDP and other mainstream political parties who, they said, "are collaborating with Government of India just to strengthen the roots of occupation in Jammu and Kashmir."
On September 01, State Administrative Council under chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik decided the poll schedule. The elections to Municipal bodies were slated to be conducted in four phases with polling dates between October 1 and 5. The elections to Panchayats were slated to be conducted in eight phases between November 8 and December 4.