UNEQUAL TREATMENT
Both Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti two senior leaders of PAGD have through their tweets expressed dismay that their candidates were not allowed by the machinery of the government to campaign while as BJP and their supporters were having all the facilities available to move in the villages and campaign for the coming DDC elections.
More than forty candidates who have been lodged near Pampore in the government accommodation belonging to PAGD have told many television channels that their opponents were being allowed to move freely but they have been virtually detained and not allowed to move out.
Local reporters and television channels showed some of the BJP candidates in highly volatile South Kashmir villages carrying out door to door campaigns with complete security cover. There is no visible campaign by PAGD candidates in South Kashmir as they have been confined in the security enclosures, while the government maintains that they are free to go for the campaign.
PDP President and Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has said that their candidates were not being allowed to campaign and accused J&K administration of helping BJP to misuse official machinery for its candidates in Kashmir valley.
When senior police officers were contacted by many media channels and reporters they refused to give any direct response. However, some senior police officers on the condition of anonymity said that all those candidates who have been kept in the protected accommodations are free to move and campaign in their villages.
On ground, the situation is grim for the PAGD candidates in the entire Kashmir valley as most of them under the pretext of security are not being allowed to meet people while the police has maintained that they are providing the security and secure accommodation according to the threat perception of each candidate.
