Srinagar, June 23 (KNS): Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari on Monday accused the ruling National Conference of failing to deliver effective governance and has not fulfilled the promises it made to the people before the elections.
He urged the Union government to take necessary steps ensuring the public trust and confidence is restored in Jammu and Kashmir. He reiterated his demand for the restoration of statehood to J&K.
Bukhari made these remarks while addressing the party’s provincial-level meeting convened at the Gandhi Nagar office in Jammu today.
The meeting, chaired by Altaf Bukhari, aimed to review the current political situation, assess the performance of the party cadre in Jammu province, and discuss internal party matters.
in a statement issued to KNS, the meeting was attended by prominent party leaders and senior workers from across the Jammu region. During the meeting, the participants apprised the party president of grassroots-level feedback from their respective areas and shared their views on a range of issues concerning the prevailing political situation, party performance, and several important organisational matters.
Addressing the occasion, Altaf Bukhari expressed his grave concern over the ruling party’s failure to provide effective governance to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He urged the Union government to “take initiatives to ensure that public confidence is restored in Jammu and Kashmir.
The restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir is of utmost importance. It should be restored without any further delay.”
He said, “People are disheartened to see that the ruling party has failed to deliver desirable governance. This government has not even fulfilled the promises it made to the people during the assembly campaign. Take, for example, its promise of providing 300 units of free electricity to consumers, and so on. Now, it claims that even government officials do not obey its orders. It is unbelievable. They have the power of a public mandate—how can a government servant dare to disobey the government? It must stop making lame excuses, such as lacking sufficient powers to deliver. Rather than giving excuses, the government must start delivering and fulfilling its own promises to the people.”
Altaf Bukhari urged the Central government to hold the pending ULB and Panchayat elections in J&K without any further delay.
He said, “People must be empowered by being granted their democratic right to choose their representatives at the grassroots level of governance—through Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Panchayats polls. The Centre must also take initiatives to restore people's confidence in Jammu and Kashmir.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel”
After the party meeting, Altaf Bukhari spoke to reporters. In response to their questions, expressing his dissatisfaction over the government's failure to address public concerns.
He said, “The BJP behaves as if it is a ruling party in J&K, while the ruling NC acts like an opposition party. The BJP makes noise over every issue but rarely focuses on matters that truly concern the public.”
He added, “At the same time, the NC-led government has failed to deliver on even the most basic issues. One example is the ongoing mining crisis in J&K. Locals who once earned their livelihood through manual mining are being pushed out, while outsiders are being handed large mining contracts.This has caused prices to skyrocket. A truckload of riverbed material that used to cost Rs 2,500 is now being sold for Rs 10,000. Looting is going on, and both the BJP and the NC are hand in glove with the perpetrators.”
He said that “Apni Party has an eye on all the issues that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are grappling with due to misgovernance, and the party will not remain silent on these matters of public interest. We will speak up and raise our voice on these issues. We did not speak earlier because we wanted to give the government enough time to deliver, but eight months have already passed. Enough is enough.”
Besides the party president the prominent party leaders who were present on the occasion included Provincial President Jammu Manjit Singh, Provincial Senior Vice President Faqir Nath, Provincial Vice President Arun Chibber, Provincial Vice President Saleem Choudhary, Provincial Secretary / In-charge Trade Wing Ajaz Kazmi, Coordinator/ In-charge Pir Panjal Arun Sharma, Provincial Secretary In-charge Minority Cell Balbir Singh Baba, District President Jammu Urban Abhay Bakaya, District President Rajouri Manzoor Bukhari, District President Kishtwar Mashood Mattoo, District President Doda Adil Wani, District President Udhampur Hans Raj Dogra, District President Jammu Rural (A) Pushp Dev Uppal, District President Jammu Rural (B) Advocate Harpreet Singh, District President Samba Raman Thapha, District President Rural ( Bani / Basohli) Madan Lal Thakur, District President Rajouri Rural ( Nowshera / Kalakote) Vicky Soodan, Provincial Jammu Spokesperson Advocate Sahil Bharti, Provincial Spokesperson Jammu Raqiq Khan, Provincial President Women Wing Jammu Pavneet Kour, Provincial Social Media In-charge Jammu Vaibhav Mattoo, Senior Leader Bodh Raj Bhagat , Senior Leader Shankar Singh Chib, and others. (KNS)