People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti claimed on Saturday that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been subverted to the point where it has become a branch of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mufti told reporters in Anantnag that the ECI was a bystander as BJP leaders used religion to garner votes in the Himachal election campaign.
‘The ECI has become a branch of the BJP. The way BJP leadership campaigned in Himachal in the name of religion was propaganda, and the commission watched as a mute spectator. Muslims have been openly threatened in the country, and the EC has been silent,’ she said.
She claimed that ECI was no longer an independent body as it once was.
‘The world would invite the country’s election commissioner to guide them in conducting (fair) elections.However, our election commission has been subverted to the point where it has become a puppet,’ she added, adding that ‘that is why the election commission will hold elections (in J&K) only when the BJP gives the go-ahead.’
The PDP leader also slammed the government for failing to address the plight of Kashmiri Pandit employees hired under the Prime Minister’s package, who have been demanding relocation from the valley.
‘The current government is turning everything topsy-turvy. Our Kashmiri Pandits have been continuously seeking relocation to Jammu till the situation improves in Kashmir. But they (the government) have been either holding back their salaries or their rations,’ she said.
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