People’s mandate has to be respected: NC’s Rana tells LG Sinha

Jammu/Jan, 5 : National Conference today stressed the crucial need of ensuring neutrality and impartiality of the administration in the establishment of District Development Councils, saying this is imperative for respecting the mandate of the people and upholding their faith in the grass-roots level democratic institutions, which hold promise for transforming rural landscape in Jammu and Kashmir.
During their meeting with the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Raj Bhavan here Tuesday morning, a delegation of the National Conference, led by its Provincial President Devender Singh Rana, drew his attention to the attempts being made to mutilate the mandate of the people by encouraging horse-trading of the recently elected Councillors, saying this is not good for democracy. The delegation comprised former Ministers Ajay Kumar Sadhotra, Surjeet Singh Slathia, Syed Mushtaq Ahmed Shah Bukhari, besides former legislators Javed Rana, S. Tarlochan Singh Wazir, Rattan Lal Gupta and Sheikh Bashir Ahmed.
“Peoples’ mandate has to be respected”, the delegation said, adding that this is actually the message sent out by the electors, loud and clear. They lauded the efforts of the Lt Governor in ensuring peaceful conduct of the polls and said the promise of upholding democratic values has to be kept by foiling the machinations of reversing the will of the people. This is imperative for the larger interests of democracy, the senior leaders said. They also referred to the impressive turn-out in elections despite weather vagaries and said this reflects peoples’ unflinching faith in democracy and the democratic institutions They said the deep yearning of the people in becoming part of decision making is healthy sign of democracy and this spirit is required to be upheld by foiling the attempts of reversing the popular will by undemocratic means. The delegation also expressed concern over the Laweypora incident and brutal assassination of Satpal Nischal, a gold smith in heart of the Srinagar city and sought judicial probe into these incidents. They called for measures to instil sense of security and trust among the people,
The senior leaders also called for inter-regional, intra-regional and inter-faith community people to people dialogue in order to defeat the designs of the elements creating polarisation and divide in the society. Jammu and Kashmir has been known for peaceful co-existence of the people and no attempt of vitiating this atmosphere should be allowed. The dialogue between a cross section of people will help promote better understanding and harmony as respecting each others’ sentiments is imperative for healthy societal growth. The Lt. Governor assured the delegation that the administration will play a non-partisan role in the establishment of the DDCs. He also assured transparent and fair conduct of enquiry in the two incidents referred by the National Conference delegation.