It will be easier for people of J&K to elect govt that will work for them, says Azad

Srinagar, Mar 10 (PTI) It will be easier for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to elect a government that will work for them as all regional and national parties have had a chance to govern the region, DPAP leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Sunday.

“Every party — be it a national or a regional party — has had a chance to govern Jammu and Kashmir. That makes it easier now for the people to elect a government that will work for them,” Azad, a former chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, told reporters.

On charges levelled against the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) that it is a “B Team” of the BJP, Azad said his detractors have associated with the saffron party in the past.

“Those who call us the BJP’s ‘B Team’ were with them, they were ‘A Teams’ of the BJP. One leader had even begun his political career as a minister in a BJP government,” Azad said.

“I was neither in the BJP as a minister or a chief minister, nor was I helped by the BJP,” he added, referring to past alliances between the BJP and the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party.

The former Congress leader also said it is difficult to say if the Modi wave will have any impact in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Jammu and Kashmir is different from other states of India. It is difficult to say whose impact would be on Jammu and Kashmir due to its composite culture,” he said.

Azad also does not think there will be any adverse impact if Arun Goel, who resigned as an election commissioner on Saturday, joined politics.

“This is not the first time that any officer in India has resigned but it may be new for the Election Commission. A lot of senior officers have resigned from their posts to join politics. I don’t think it will have any adverse impact on the politics of the country or the workings of the Election Commission,” he added.