LG denies ‘80% against elections in J&K’ remark

Jammu, Oct 13: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha Friday said that he never made a statement suggesting that 80 percent of the people in the region do not want elections and had only learned of such claims through a media report.

In response to a question from a reporter at Jammu, the LG clarified that he had never personally made any statement suggesting that 80 percent of the population in the region does not want elections, noting that he became aware of this claim

through a media report as the National Conference (NC) had attributed this statement to him.

“I have actively participated in elections before, and I intend to continue doing so in the future,” he said.

On September 28, NC Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that every political party and citizen desires elections in J&K.

“The sole dissenter in this regard is the Lieutenant Governor who opposes the holding of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

J&K has been without an elected government for the past five years, leading to strong criticism from the mainstream NC and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) regarding the prolonged delay in reinstating democracy in J&K.