LS POLLS-2024 | Altaf Bukhari demands poll delay; slams PDP, NC

Anantnag, Apr 28: Reiterating his demand for deferment of elections in the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency, Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari Sunday said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) should ensure that everyone casts their vote.

“It is not the kind of government that will deprive people of their right to vote. We hope that the ECI does justice and conducts polling at a time when everyone can vote,” Bukhari told reporters on the sidelines of a rally in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Several parties including Apni Party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) submitted a representation before the ECI, seeking deferment of elections, citing the recurrent closure of the Mughal Road.

“My candidate could not visit the other side of Pir Panjal due to the closure of Mughal Road. Thirty of our vehicles have been stranded along the road since Saturday,” Bukhari said.

Launching a tirade on the constituents of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), Bukhari said that these parties wore masks of alliance to conceal their faces.

“Today they stand unmasked and you see they are slinging mud at each other,” he said.

Bukhari said that he appealed to the people to expose the real faces of these parties so that they could not mislead people anymore.

He said that there was a two-cornered contest between the NC and Apni Party in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

“PDP is nowhere in the picture,” he said.

Earlier, addressing the public rallies, Bukhari derided both NC and PDP for misleading the people in the name of autonomy and self-rule.

He blamed both the parties for the abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35-A.

“Article 370 and Article 35-A were lost because of them,” Bukhari said.

He said that after the abrogation of the special status of J&K, both these parties had declared that they would not contest polls.

“Now, what are they seeking votes for? Have they restored anything?” Bukhari said.

He castigated the PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti for her failure to voice the concerns of the people in the parliament in 2008.

“She is only good at telling lies,” Bukhari said.

He said that his party would do justice to the parents who lost their children to the violence perpetrated by the “unknown gunmen”.

“Such gunmen will be unmasked,” he said. “The Home Minister of India has identified such gunmen.”

Bukhari said that he had ensured land and job rights.

He said that he would secure the release of youth languishing in jails and get cleared verifications of youth recruited by JKPSC and JKSSB.

Bukhari blamed the NC, PDP, and Congress for provoking the youth to throw stones.

He appealed to the J&K Police to take action against these parties.