PDP president
Mehbooba Mufti, who wanted to hold panchayat elections at the earliest when she was chief minister, said at a hurriedly convened press conference that any attempt to impose any electoral exercise in the current atmosphere would seriously erode the credibility of the process.
BJP dubbed the parties opposing the polls "anti-people and anti-development". "The state will lose crores of grants if these elections are not held as soon as possible. Parties such as NC and PDP are scared of losing ground," the party said. Chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said the process of issuing notification for the polls would begin within a week. On the security scenario, K Vijay Kumar, adviser to governor, said it was being reviewed.
