- JKNPP protests outside Parliament seeking Dissolution of Assembly
NEW DELHI: Concerned over the reports of horse trading besides other unethical practices in govt formation in the state, a battalion a NPP activists led by Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP, Mr. Balwant Singh Mankotia State President JKNPP and Mr. Yash Paul Kundal State President Young Panthers held a massive protest demonstration near Parliament House in New Delhi today seeking immediate dissolution of J&K Assembly. The enraged protestors shouting slogans against the central govt and BJP took out a protest march from NDMC Chowk, Sansad Marg towards parliament but were stopped by the parliament street police station by putting barricades on the road and restrained from proceeding further. The agitated NPP workers amid thundering slogans invited the attention of president of India towards wrongful prolongation of suspended Assembly and the resultant reports of horse trading and sought immediate dissolution of J&K House.
Referring to the political impasse created in the state in the wake of suspension of Assembly pursuant to breakdown of BJP-PDP govt, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh expressed concern over the reported attempts of various political parties wooing the rival legislators in a bid to form govt by hook or crook. There were reports of floor crossing amidst allurements and enticements held out to legislators of other parties, he said. The panic stricken political parties were trying hard to keep their flock together and to rescue their members from falling prey to the enchantments and charms of the opponents, said Singh.
Accusing the BJP in particular of trying to engineer defections in other parties through support of central agencies, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh said that such bizarre machinations did not auger well for the state and could result in further alienation. And while BJP was trying to break other parties, some of its own members were in touch with congress as per authentic sources, he said. These opportunist MLAs included those who had jettisoned congress on the eve of previous elections to bask in the reflected glory of Narendra Modi at the said time but had now realized that BJP was a sinking ship and were desperate to abandon it, divulged Mr. Singh.
Mr. Balwant Singh Mankotia, while maintaining that suspension of Assembly was supposed to be a transitory period under the constitution in which the Governor has to decide its fate, said that its prolongation was violative of law besides prevalent practices and precedents. If no political party or combination of parties was in a position to form the govt, the only option was to dissolve the Assembly so as to prevent defections, horse trading and unfair means in the formation of the govt, said Mankotia. He said that with almost all political parties except BJP having conveyed their unwillingness to form govt and the reports of defections and unethical practices doing rounds each day, the dissolution of Assembly was inevitable and required immediate attention of the Governor and president of India.
Mr. Yash Paul Kundal said that with BJP known for its manipulative skills and Machiavellian strategies of forming govts through unethical means, the political parties in state had become jittery and rather panicky which was not good for a sensitive state like J&K. He appealed for the indulgence of the President of India so that all speculations were set at rest and the dissolution of suspended assembly ensured at the earliest. Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Rajesh Padgotra, Romesh Khajuria, Mohinder Singh, Arun Khajuria, Vishav Singh, Anil Rakwal, Raman Dogra, Surjit Singh, Dildar H.Beig besides others.