SRINAGAR: Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on June 24 Said that United Front Government will introduce a Billin the Lok Sabha to restore maximum autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir as promised in the common minimum program. Talking to newspersons al the heavily guarded Nehru Guest House near Cheshmashani, Mr. Yadav said, “We will make every effort to give maximum autonomy to the State, since we have promised this in our common minimum program.” He said a Bill in this regard will be introduced in Parliament during the coming session in July. However, he made it clear that before introducing any Bill all the national political parties would be taken into confidence.

In reply to 4 question, he said, “We will also hold discussions with the local Kashmir parties before taking any final decision.” The United Front Government’s Steering Committee has advised the Government that Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir should be held more or less simultaneously.

The Government had veered around to the view that elections in J&K should be held in September, and that because of the question of deployment of security forces, UP elections ‘should be held a month later. The clincher for early elections in J&K was CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet’s visit to the State last week. He submitted a detailed report about the ground situation to the steering committee; a CPI(M) politburo member said that Mr Suneet felt that the situation in the Valley was conducive for early elections.

Meanwhile, J&K Governor K.V. Krishna Rao briefed Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on the current situation in the troubled Kashmir Valley on Monday night. The Prime Minister had scheduled to take a high-level official meeting on Kashmiron Tuesday. Mr. Deve Gowda’s attentions are part of the United Front Government’s declared intention to hold assembly elections in September and ensure maximum participation during the restoration of democracy and peace in the State, which has been strife tom by insurgency the past seven years. Governor Rao’s meeting with the Prime Minister is the first after the formation of the UF Government. It was restricted to a briefing on the current Situation, the passage of Lok Sabha polls, and the preparations for the assembly polls, which are likely to be held in September. The UF, in its common minimum program, had promised “maximum autonomy” to Kashmir.

CPI (M) leader H.S. Surjeet, one of the guiding lights behind the UF, has been in Srinagar recently, talking to various parties about the question of autonomy, though his efforts have been focused on the National Conference and its leader, former State Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.

Even former Prime Minister V.P. Singh has been busy, meeting All Party Hurriyat Conference leader Shabir Shah during last month’s visit to Srinagar, and meeting the militants who began a dialogue with the Center.

Article extracted from this publication >>  June 26, 1996