JAMMU, JAN 9: Taranjit Singh Tony, General Secretary Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) and Member District Development Council (DDC) Suchetgarh has demanded that the Govt must announce statehood to Jammu and Kashmir before holding the Assembly elections in this Union Territory.
In a statement issued to media here today Taranjit Singh Tony said, “While the elections should be conducted for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly very soon to restore democracy in this UT, more than that it is necessary that the statehood should be restored before holding of the aforesaid elections.” He said that our land and job rights, which were taken away after Article 370 abrogation, should be secured in the manner these existed prior to abrogation i.e. before August 5, 2019. He said that this needs to be done on utmost priority by bringing a new law when the statehood gets restored.
Tony slammed the BJP Govt for not even heeding seriously to the Supreme Court directions in this regard. He said that restoration of statehood is a prerequisite to holding assembly elections especially after the observations of the Supreme Court while hearing the case pertaining to abrogation of Article 370, in which it asked the Govt to hold elections to keep up the spirit of democracy. He said that J&K Congress as well as the Party High Command stands strongly by the conviction that holding elections without granting statehood will defeat the basic purpose of restoring the institutions of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir.
