‘Gov remark on Srinagar mayor misrepresented’

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday said that governor Satya Pal Malik’s comment on Srinagar mayor were misrepresented by a national TV news channel and claimed that the elections to the urban and rural local bodies in the state are being held in a “free, fair and the most transparent manner”.

It also said that the outcome of these elections “will be exclusively in the hands of the people” and the governor as head of the government in the state will ensure it.

Governor Malik had landed himself in a controversy recently after he reportedly told NDTV that a foreign educated person is becoming Srinagar mayor. This evoked widespread criticism of Mr Malik and questions were being asked as to how he could predict victory of a particular person in the fray and then even say that he is becoming the major of Srinagar when the elections to the 66-member Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) are still underway and the results are scheduled to be declared on October 20.

NDTV political editor Sunetra Choudhury had 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 #Jammu KashmirElection. I should have pinned him down on this.”

Former CM 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. The NC said that the Governor’s remarks cast a shadow on the whole election process. “It seems that 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 lawmakers.

The party added that Mr. Malik’s remark “favouring 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”.

But a spokesman of Raj Bhavan said here on Thursday, “Over the past three days, ever since the Governor gave a live interview to a TV channel in Delhi, there has been a persistent attempt by that channel and certain other channels to play up one part of the interview in a distorted manner leading to a flurry of allegations that he has already decided that a certain candidate will be the Mayor of Srinagar”.

A statement issued by the Governor’s administration said that the transcript of portion, which is being debated upon “in a slanted manner” is reproduced below:

Q: Couldn’t you have waited little more to get them on board to assure them?

Governor: Your logic is contradicted by……… we have waited for Anantnag, anything changed, nothing will change by waiting. Everything will change if we will go with election process. My information is that both the parties are regretting because in Srinagar they are getting a Mayor who is foreign educated; he is a young leader; if he emerges it will send jitters to these parties”.

The spokesman said that the statement of the Governor was in the context of discussion on the boycott of the local body elections by two regional parties. “The Governor, in a freewheeling discussion, said that he has information about a certain candidate. This person is not an unknown person and he has resigned from one of the state parties to be able to contest the election. His resignation was widely reported in all papers as a major story,” the spokesman said.

He said the exact statement of the Governor is “My information is that both the parties are regretting because in Srinagar they see they are getting a Mayor who is foreign educated; he is a young leader; if he emerges it will send jitters to these parties.”

The spokesman said, “The Governor had just said that he has information about the likelihood of a certain candidate becoming Mayor and how if this happens, it will upset some political parties. This possibility too has been a topic in media for quite some time. In a discussion on the boycott of the polls by two local parties and the impact of the polls on them, this is a simple statement on a possible outcome which may be inconvenient to them if it happens.”

The spokesman further said that in no way can the statement of the Governor be construed to mean that he has either decided the Mayor of Srinagar or is involved in the electoral process. “The electoral process is in the hands of an independent Chief Electoral Officer who is responsible for conducting a free and fair poll. That is what he is doing, along with officials involved in the electoral process. The Mayor of Srinagar is to be elected by the councilors of the Municipal Corporation of Srinagar and that is not a pre-determined outcome. The Governor has no role in the election either of councilors, and even less so, in the election of the Mayor,” the spokesman said.

The spokesman alleged that certain news channels and sections of the media have been persistent in trying to project that the election process will be a failure even before it began. “Their reporting has been premeditated, to the extent of suppressing relevant facts from being projected,” he said and added that it seems deliberate attempts are being made by certain quarters to trigger controversies where there are none by twisting statements to imply things which were not meant. End it