Chuni, Shah first to file papers for Jammu LS seat

JAMMU: A refugee leader representing people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Rajiv Chuni, and newly floated Independent Peoples Party president Aqib Shah on Wednesday filed their nominations for the Jammu-Poonch parliamentary seat at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Jammu.

Vikram Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 20

A refugee leader representing people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Rajiv Chuni, and newly floated Independent Peoples Party president Aqib Shah on Wednesday filed their nominations for the Jammu-Poonch parliamentary seat at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Jammu.

Chuni, who is fighting the Lok Sabha elections as an Independent candidate, is a prominent refugee leader who represents lakhs of displaced people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The refugees are living in Jammu since 1947.

The IPP is the first political party in the state which filed its candidate for the LS contest on the third day of the nominations. None of the candidates belonging to the mainstream political parties have filed their nominations so far.

Shah said he had consulted his party leaders, most of them youth, and then decided to go ahead and contest the elections.

“The IPP was launched in January this year with the primary motive to gear up for the Assembly elections in the state. Later, we decided to give the party a chance in the Lok Sabha contest so that we could reach out to people with the IPP manifesto,” said Shah.

He said the IPP’s political slogan, ‘Abki Baar Yuva Parihar’, was based on the agenda to give youth a strong representation in the state’s political spectrum.

Meanwhile, Chuni said time had come for the refugees to expose the political parties and politicians who had been deceiving them for the past seven decades.

“People from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have been denied their rights and are being discriminated against. Despite tall promises by political parties, our issues remain unresolved,” said Chuni.

He said the promises made by the BJP government in 2014 were never fulfilled and the relief package meant for the refugees was not implemented with sincerity as a majority of the people had not received the benefits.

'Time to expose politicians'

Rajiv Chuni, who is fighting the Lok Sabha elections from the Jammu-Poonch seat as an Independent candidate, said time had come for the refugees to expose the political parties and politicians who had been deceiving them for the past seven decades.
The Independent Peoples Party is the first political party in the state which filed its candidate for the LS contest on the third day of the nominations on Wednesday. None of the candidates belonging to the mainstream political parties have filed their nominations so far