New Delhi: Former MP and CPM politburo member Brinda Karat on Thursday said people of Jammu & Kashmir have rejected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP's) policy as far as the erstwhile state is concerned.
Talking to ETV Bharat in an exclusive interview, Karat said that the result of District Development Council (DDC) has shown that people did not accept bifurcation of J&K into two Union Territories.
"The people have also lodged a big protest against the abrogation of Article 370 from J&K," said Karat.
She claimed that in spite of using all options and resources of the central government, it (BJP) has faced a strong defeat in the DDC election.
"During and ahead of the election, many other party leaders were imprisoned. The leaders were not allowed to do a free campaign, in spite of that people of J&K have come out and gave a befitting reply to the BJP and its narratives," said Karat.
On the question of BJP being elected as the single largest party in the DDC election, Karat claimed that it is trying to distort the reality.
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"The BJP fought the election on their own. And o the other side parties came together and form an alliance. The alliance, in fact, is the single largest political force," said Karat.
She said that BJP has lost many seats in Jammu. "The party had to face defeat in its strong base Jammu which is being represented by Jitendra Singh...The alliance partner got many seats in Jammu," Karat added.
Speaking on the results of CPM in the DDC election, Karat said that people of J&K have restored faith in the party.
"We fight the elections amid many difficulties. We fight in seven seats and won five. We stood by the people of J&K. And the result shows that the people of the region have faith on our party," said Karat.
It may be mentioned here that as many as six political parties came together and formed Peoples Alliance for Gopkar Declaration (PAGD) ahead of the DDC election with an aim to restore the statehood of J&K.
Being headed by National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the alliance after winning maximum seats in the just concluded election, is all set to head many of the district development council in J&K.