Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik has landed himself in a controversy after he told a national TV channel that a foreign educated person is becoming Srinagar mayor.
The elections to the 66-member Srinagar Municipal Corporation are being held in four phases. The polling in the first phase was held on Monday. The results will be declared on October 20.
Questions are being asked as to how could the governor predict victory of a particular person in the fray and then even say that he is becoming the mayor of the state’s summer capital.
NDTV political editor Sunetra Choudhury tweeted, “Incidentally the Governor told @ndtv a foreign educated person is becoming Srinagar mayor. Viewers and Kashmir friends ask how Satyapal Malik knows who will be Srinagar mayor #JammuKashmirElection I should have pinned him down on this.”
Former CM and NC vice-president Omar Abdullah was quick to retweet Ms Choudhury’s tweet. It evoked mixed reaction from his followers and other netizens, many of them criticising the governor over his remark.
Independent MLA and leader of regional Awami Itehad Party Engineer Rashid in his reply said, “People used to say Khaliq DC made MLAs till mid-seventies & now we may call it Satyapal made mayors as J&K Governor has declared even before marginal voting could take place that who will be the next mayor for Sgr city. Democracy being shamed in J&K as usul. Controlled democracy!”
The NC said that the governor’s remarks cast a shadow on the whole election process. “It seems that the mayor for Srinagar city has already been selected even before the elections are over,” it said in a statement signed by five of its senior leaders and legislators.
The statement said that Mr Malik’s remark “favo-uring a particular individual for the post of mayor of Srinagar is shocking and puts a big question mark on the impartiality of the governor’s office”. It added that the ongoing election process “is a smokescreen to hide the machinations of the governor’s office to throttle the democratic institutions in the state”.
Mr Malik was obviously referring to former NC spokesman Junaid Azim Mattu, who quit the party last month and announced that he will contest the civic polls from hometown Srinagar “to serve the people”. Mr Mattu on Sept-ember 25 wrote on Twitter, “Based on my humble disagreement with the party’s decision to boycott the upcoming ULB and Panchayat Polls, I have just sent my resignation from the party to the JKNC General Secretary.”
In another tweet, he had said, “I strongly believe that leaving our grassroots democratic institutions open to misrepresentation would inflict serious harm on the State and also wreak havoc with our social fabric and cultural legacy.” The NC had said that it was “pleased” to accept Mr Mattu’s resignation.
The NC on Tuesday said that it is not against any person becoming the mayor, but the way governor has unequivocally expressed his intentions by hinting towards a particular individual before-hand for mayor’s post of Srinagar “is what casts a shadow on the whole election process already mired in controversies and the rules of engagement as per the established norms”.
The NC, J&K’s oldest political party, is not contesting the urban local bodies or panchayat elections and has said that it may boycott also the State Assembly and Lok Sabha polls “unless and until the State as well as the Central governments clear their position vis-à-vis Article 35A in and outside the courts”. Its arch rival PDP has not joined the fray either on the premise the situation on the ground created by what it alleged was government’s imprudently linking these polls with Article 35A case pending before the Supreme Court (SC) and apprehension among the people thereof have prompted it to boycott the elections. The CPIM also opted for boycott of these elections on similar grounds.
While criticising Mr. Malik’s over his remarks, the NC has maintained that the councilors elected from various wards exercise their democratic right and elect a mayor after following the whole process as enshrined in the rule books. “There is already a big question mark on the fairness of ongoing ULB elections in the Valley. Adding to the confusion, Governor’s remarks reveal that he has no reverence for the due process of elections.”
The NC alleged that the ongoing election process has already gone farcical and proven to be a damp squib because of the scanty participation of people in its first phase in the Valley and the sparse number of candidates contesting the polls. “The Governor’s remarks have made it very clear that the whole process of elections is rather a gimmick and that selection has already been done in his office”.
It accused Mr. Malik of indulging in active politics and, therefore, demeaning the reputation of the office of Governor. “As has been the norm, a Governor is supposed to work in an impartial manner and take everyone along but that is not happening. Instead the office is being used to undermine the well established institutions of the state. This is a sad state of affairs and will inevitably push the youth of the state towards hopelessness,” the statement read.
