ANANTNAG, Mar 9: Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday said Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir should be held soon after the Lok Sabha election as the people of the Union Territory cannot wait anymore.
He also said said Jammu and Kashmir\u2019s statehood would be restored.
\u201cWe have been waiting for the Assembly polls for years. We hope that the polls take place immediately after the parliamentary election. I think the people of Jammu and Kashmir cannot wait anymore now,\u201d Azad told reporters after a public meeting in the Chittergul area of this south Kashmir district.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, however, described the upcoming visit of Election Commission (EC) officials to the region as \u201croutine\u201d.
\u201cIt is the job of the EC to visit states. This is not something new that they are visiting here. The EC starts preparing for elections months before in a state. This is routine,\u201d he said.
The former Union minister said Jammu and Kashmir\u2019s statehood would be restored.
He took a dig at National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah over the latter\u2019s remarks on Azad targeting his father, NC president Farooq Abdullah.
Azad had recently said NC leaders meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi after dark.
\u201cI do not know under what influence did Ghulam Nabi Azad target Farooq Abdullah,\u201d Omar Abdullah told a press conference in Srinagar on Friday.
Azad said those who go on vacations for months together should not question him.
\u201cI am in my senses 24 hours a day. Only those people do not remain in their senses who have time to take holidays. I do not go on vacations. I do not have time to take a holiday. For the first time in 18 months, I went to Gulmarg for half a day because a meeting was cancelled. Those leaders, who are on vacation for months together, what can they say?\u201d he asked.
Asked about the split in the People\u2019s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), the former Congress leader said it was the concern of the constituent parties and \u201cI have nothing to say about that\u201d.
To a question on whether the split in the PAGD would benefit political parties like the BJP, Azad said people are clever and they understand which party or candidate to vote for.
\u201cSo it remains to be seen who will benefit or not benefit from it,\u201d he added.
Asked whether he would contest the Lok Sabha polls, likely to be held in April-May, from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, Azad said he has not decided yet. (Agencies)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ANANTNAG, Mar 9: Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chief Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday said Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir should be held soon after the Lok Sabha election as the people of the Union Territory cannot wait anymore.He also said said Jammu and Kashmir\u2019s statehood would be restored.\u201cWe have been waiting for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-srinagar"},"yoast_head":"\n