Assembly polls in J&K will be held soon, says BJP leader Tarun Chugh

Jammu: Asserting that the BJP's vote share as well as seat count saw an increase in the recently-held Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (Kargil) election, BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh on Tuesday said Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be held soon as the process of delimitation and preparing the voter list has been completed.

He also claimed that the Gupkar alliance that had faced a defeat in the local bodies election will have to suffer a similar outcome in the Assembly polls.

"The election will take place on time. Several decades had gone by without any delimitation. Now, delimitation of the Assembly constituencies has taken place. The voter list has been prepared. It has been sent to the political parties for the submission of their objections. Accordingly, the election will be held soon," Chugh told reporters here.

He said as far as the urban local body (ULB) polls are concerned, the local bodies have submitted 700 written complaints citing discrepancies in the ward and gram panchayat listings.

"We have been denied our right to vote. The ward and gram panchayat formula in Kargil is faulty and has been crafted with a certain bias. I request the government to rectify this," the BJP leader said, replying to a question about the opposition's charge that the government has failed to hold the much-awaited polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

Replying to another question about the Kargil polls, he said the voter turnout in the election saw a five-fold increase compared to the past.

"We contested on just 16 seats and received full blessings from the people. The BJP won two seats, as opposed to one in the previous election," he said.

Chugh said the vote share as well as the seat count of the saffron party witnessed an increase in the Kargil polls and accused the opposition of creating confusion about it.

On the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP leader said the Union Territory, which was once known as the 'capital of terrorism', has been transformed into a hub of tourism and development.

"From being labelled as the 'terrorism capital', Jammu and Kashmir has been transformed into a hub of tourism. The era of development has commenced in Jammu and Kashmir, a region that was deprived of progress for decades by the previous governments," he said.

Chugh said a new era of peace and development has dawned in Jammu and Kashmir and the youngsters of the region are being empowered.

"One of the most significant achievements is our successful crackdown on terrorism. Those who harm our civilians will never be pardoned," he asserted.

"Under the leadership of (Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief) Ravinder Raina, we are conducting jan samvad events at all booths," Chugh said.