Election boycotts damage public interest, says Altaf Bukhari

Pampore, Jul 15: Apni Party (AP) President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari has urged people to exercise their right to vote in forthcoming assembly elections in J&K, to ensure the traditional politicians and exploiters are kept at bay from taking the benefit of poll boycotts.
He was addressing a party convention at Konibal Pampore on Friday.
According to a press statement issued here, Bukhari said the election boycotts eventually damage the public interest.
He said, “We must understand that fact that in a democratic system of governance people are empowered by their right to vote, thus people must use this right to ensure their participation in the governance.”
“Not only that the people should use their right to vote, but they also must ensure they use this power wisely.” He added.
Giving the reference to the past, Apni Party President said, “We have seen how the election boycotts have ultimately helped the self-interested politicians who exploited people for their monetary and political gains.”
He further said, “When people do not exercise their voting right, they automatically disempower themselves by giving free hand to the traditional politicians to manipulate the whole electoral exercise.”
“The traditional political parties and the so-called leaders would like you not to vote because they get benefitted by the poll boycotts. Therefore, this time, people must come out to cast their vote in the assembly elections when they are held in near future.” He said, and added “To ensure good governance, the participation of the people is of utmost importance.”
Maintaining that the Apni Party is the best alternative for J&K people to vote for, Bukhari said,
“The prevailing awful situation in J&K is evidence of the misgovernance of the traditional political parties who remained at the helm in the state for years and decades in the past. They deceived and misled you in the name of emotional slogans. By doing this they got empires for themselves but brought miseries, deaths, and destruction to the common people.”
“This time”, Syed Altaf Bukhari said, “the elections are a fight between truth and falsehood. You have been the victim of the falsehood of the traditional political parties so far, but I assure you that the Apni Party stands for the truth. I am sure people will side with the truth.”
He added, “the Apni Party has a very clear agenda. We are here to work for the peace, prosperity, and development of Jammu and Kashmir. We do not believe in false promises and setting unachievable goals. I request you to give us a chance to serve you; we have a clear vision and agenda for the sustained peace, durable prosperity and development of J&K, and the political and economic empowerment of its people.”
“I have said this time and again that Apni Party if chosen to serve the people in government, will ensure economic benefits to every soul that lives on this land. We will focus on infrastructure building for education, health, industrial sectors, and other sectors to make sure we have an abundance of opportunities here for our youth. Every move of our government would be aimed at poverty alleviation on this land, which we believe is a land of opportunities in terms of its resources. Our key agenda is to protect the political rights of the people and ensure their economic empowerment.” The Apni Party leader reiterated his assurance.
He added, “as I have said earlier that if people choose us to serve them, we will increase the marriage assistance for the women up to One Lakh rupees; and, similarly, the widows’ pension up to Rs 5000 for each beneficiary. Apni Party’s government would provide five hundred units of electricity free to the consumers of the Valley in the winters and three hundred units in the summers. Also, we will give four gas cylinders free to every household annually.”