Srinagar 30Aug; National Conference president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah Tuesday expressed regret that his party didn’t participate in the 2018 Panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir.Expressing his views on his party boycotting the Panchayat local polls held in September 2018, the National Conference leader said, “I regret that my party didn’t participate in Panchayat polls”.Participating in the parliamentary outreach programmed for strengthening Parliamentary Raj Institutions (PRIs), the veteran politician stressed that “India is a diverse nation; single religion can’t build the nation.”On Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan, he said there will surely be an effect of the development taking place in Afghanistan. “Our neighboring countries are in distress. I don’t know which country will face more impact if the Taliban take over. We have Pakistan, China, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Russia as our neighbors. Who knows whether the US would face more impact from Taliban take over?
I can’t say, but yes, there will surely be an impact of the Afghan situation on the world,” Abdullah said.Abdullah expressed his anguish that government officials of the Jammu and Kashmir administration “don’t pick phones as if some ghost is hanging upon them”. He requested Sinha to instruct officials to answer phone calls of people.Requesting Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who was present on the dais, for providing security to Panchayat leaders, Abdullah said they are being targeted by terrorists.“The politicians who are standing with the country are the target of the terrorists and it is for the country to protect them,” he said.“Soon a government will be formed in Jammu and Kashmir which will make government officials answerable to the people,” Abdullah said.(CNS)
