AGENCIES/ NEW DELHI
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said that Centre was ready to hold Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir but it is up to the Election Commission to take a decision.
He assured that the government will provide all kinds of security assistance to the Commission for conducting polls.
Replying to a brief discussion on a Statutory Resolution approving the proclamation of President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir, the Home Minister said the government is in favour of an elected democracy in the state.
Responding to allegations that the Centre wanted to favour some groups to form a government, Mr Singh rejected them and assured that the NDA government will not allow anything wrong and unethical.
Narrating a sequence of happenings that lead to the imposition of Governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir, the Minister said in the month of June, the Governor had consulted some political parties to ascertain the situation for formation of a government but no party was in favour and the Assembly was put under suspended animation.
He said, in December he had again asked the Governor about the situation. The Minister said that he came to know through media reports that Congress, PDP and National Conference were trying to forge an alliance but this report was denied very next day by Senior Congress Leader Ghulam Nabi Azad who said his party was not in favour of any alliance.
Under this situation, the assembly was dissolved. The Home Minister said everyone wanted a solution to the problem and his government is promoting grass-root democracy as it had recently conducted the elections to the local bodies.
Mr Singh also listed developmental works done by the NDA government in Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier, participating in the discussion, Farooq Abdullah of National Conference questioned the Governor’s move to impose Central rule.
He said when the PDP, Congress and National Conference tried to form a government and approached the Governor, the fax machine of Governor was not functional, his phone was also not working.
He said the Governor house is not the place to prove majority but the assembly is. He added that the State Governor did not wait for the formation of a popular government and dissolved the Assembly.
Shashi Tharoor of Congress opposed the Resolution saying that the state was put under Governor’s Rule without any floor test. He said it was done despite the fact that Congress, PDP and National Conference had come together to form the government.
He termed the Governor’s Rule as unconstitutional and improper. Saugata Ray of Trinamool Congress also opposed the Central rule in the State terming it arbitrary and unconstitutional. He demanded an immediate election in the state.
Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party said the government should explain the reason behind the imposition of its rule. Mohammed Salim of CPI-M accused the NDA government’s ill-thought and misleading policy with regard to the State and demanded the establishment of a popular government.
Intervening in the debate Union Minister Jitendra Singh explained the political situation in the state after the last Assembly poll and present situation of imposing President’s Rule.
He alleged that the current situation in the state is the outcome of series of blunders committed by successive Congress governments.
He also questioned the Jammu and Kashmir parties for not participating in local body elections.
The Minister said BJP was always ready for holding elections but it should be in the true sense of polls. Members belonging to AIADMK, BJD, Shiv Sena and others also participated in the discussion.
Earlier, the Lok Sabha today passed, amid the din, a Statutory Resolution approving the proclamation of President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir.
The House passed the Resolution. However, some of the opposition members later objected to it. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed a brief discussion on it.