The National Conference (NC) on Wednesday announced their boycott of the upcoming Panchayat elections in Jammu-Kashmir “unless and until” the Centre takes effective steps for protection of the Article 35-A of the Constitution which is facing legal challenge in the Supreme Court.

Announcing the decision of the core group of the NC in Srinagar, the party’s president and MP Farooq Abdullah said that the government decided to hold these elections without taking the ground situation into account.

Abdullah’s comment came after a meeting of the core group of the party earlier today in which the issue of elections and the Article 35-A was discussed thoroughly.

At a press conference, the former Jammu-Kashmir Chief Minister said, “NC will not participate in these elections unless and until the Government of India and the state government clears its position on Article 35A and takes effective steps for the protection of Article 35-A in and outside the court.”

He said the decision of the Governor’s administration to hold urban local body polls and panchayat elections was taken in a “hurried manner” and without taking into consideration the prevailing confusion “created by the powers that be by unnecessarily fiddling with Article 35-A”.

Abdullah said that the party’s core group felt that any tinkering with Article 35-A would prove disastrous not only for Jammu-Kashmir but for the entire country.

He said that the core group observed that the role of the central government and the present dispensation in J-K before the Supreme Court goes clearly against the wishes and aspirations of the people of the state.

The state government had last week announced that the eight-phase Panchayat polling will be held between 8 November and 4 December.

Kashmiri separatists have already announced boycott of the elections as they feel it would not solve the Kashmir problem.

The elections for the Panchayat have been long overdue. The term of the earlier Panchayats expired in July 2016.

In a separate tweet, former chief minister Omar Abdullah said, “It is now for the central government to clarify where it stands with regard to Art 35-A. It’s not enough to use Panchayat & Municipal elections simply to delay proceedings in court”.

It is now for the central government to clarify where it stands with regard to Art 35-A. It’s not enough to use Panchayat & Municipal elections simply to delay proceedings in court. https://t.co/R0rwfS00Cs

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) September 5, 2018

Reproaching the NC for deciding to boycott the grassroots elections, former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Kavinder Gupta accused the party of running away from the polls.

He said that being a major political party in the state, NC should have taken the opportunity to help normalise the situation instead of whipping up sentiments of the people against the central government.

Gupta accused the NC of furthering the destructive agenda of the Separatists and other inimical elements.

BJP’s state spokesman, Brigadier Anil Gupta (Retd), accused the NC of deliberately trying to change the narrative and mislead the people of the state on the issue of the Article 35-A.

Farooq Abdullah’s cousin and leader of the Awami National Conference (ANC), Muzaffar Shah, has also said that no Panchayat elections will be fought till petition seeking scrapping of Article 35-A is not dismissed by the Supreme Court.

Shah in a statement warned “social boycott” of anyone contesting the Panchayat elections.