New Delhi: The government is ready to hold Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir whenever the Election Commission (EC) takes a final decision in the matter, Union minister Jitendra Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Intervening in the discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, the minister of state in the prime minister’s office (PMO) said “whenever the EC announces it (Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir), we are ready”.
He said this in response to a demand from opposition parties for holding early Assembly polls in the Union Territory.
“The EC has its own mechanism of gathering inputs according to its requirements and it will take a final call. Let us all trust the wisdom of the EC and not appear to be interfering in its functioning,” Singh added.
He further said democracy must reach the grass-root level and in the future, “we will do” what is in the best interest of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh blamed Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, for the Kashmir problem.
He further said the Congress should be grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution that provided a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh said a series of measures have been taken to ensure development in the Union Territory.
