Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party after the Election Commission said that non-locals would be allowed to cast votes in the next elections to be held in the union territory.
Mufti, the chief of the Peoples Democratic Party, alleged that J&K has become a laboratory for the BJP which is in power at the Centre.
“Jammu and Kashmir has become a laboratory for the Bharatiya Janata Party. They conduct experiment here and then implement it in other places. All this is being done in the garb of the so-called integration of J&K with India,” the PDP president said.
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She added that under BJP rule, democracy was in danger not just in J&K but entire India.
“Election rigging is done sometimes during election and sometimes after polls like we have witnessed in several states including Maharashtra. Agencies like ED are being used to do such rigging. ED is now BJP’s alliance partner,” Mufti told a press conference.
It is expected that 25 non-locals would become eligible to cast their votes in the next J&K elections. Mufti dubbed these electorate as BJP voters.
“BJP has only one objective – to form the government everywhere by resorting to any method. They want to install a fascist ruler here using a fraud election,” she alleged further.
“This is the last nail in the coffin of electoral democracy. A Muslim majority state chose India, they wanted to be part of secular India. But people have lost confidence in voting. Everything happening in BJP’s interest,” the PDP chief said.
On Wednesday, the former CM of the erstwhile state of J&K had tweeted to express her dismay over the decision:
“GOIs decision to defer polls in J&K preceded by egregious gerrymandering tilting the balance in BJPs favour & now allowing non locals to vote is obviously to influence election results. Real aim is to continue ruling J&K with an iron fist to disempower locals.”
