Pandit councillors seek security, housing in Valley

mit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 11

After the initial euphoria over its first-ever win in the urban local bodies (ULB) elections in Kashmir, the major worry for elected councillors of the BJP is security and accommodation in the militancy-hit Valley.

Councillors, especially displaced Pandits, elected in different parts of the Valley are demanding the state administration to provide security to them, so that they can carry out works in the volatile south Kashmir districts.

Off the 106 BJP councillors, over 30 are migrant Pandits, who despite militant threats, opted to fight the elections. In several committees, they were elected unopposed due to the boycott call given by the separatists and the PDP and the NC, which kept people away from polling stations. However, many got votes from migrant community members, who exercised their franchise through postal ballots from camps in Jammu, thus allowing the BJP to open its account in the urban local bodies elections.

“Since these elected members are displaced and have been away from Kashmir in exile for the last 28 years, they don’t have any place to live. The government has not provided proper accommodation and security to them because of which they are unable to discharge their responsibility,” said MLC GL Raina.

Raina is the BJP state general secretary and had written to Governor Satya Pal Malik seeking his intervention in this regard.

Newly elected members are seeking a mechanism also because they want to utilise a part of funds to carry out development activities in camps at Jagti, Muthi, Nagrota, Buta Nagar and Purkhoo in Jammu.

“Migrant voters live in camps in Jammu, but there are no guidelines to allow the elected members to utilise funds for development activities there. We should be allowed to utilise some money for people living in these camps,” said Vimal Raina, who was elected member to the Mattan municipal committee.

Before the announcement of the urban local bodies elections in J&K, the state chief electoral officer had announced a postal ballot system for one lakh migrant voters. A notification in this regard was issued on September 16.