NEWDELHI: India’s minister of state for home, M.M,Jacob, Thursday said the Government was committed to hold elections in Punjab on time.
It was the responsibility of the state administration there to create a congenial atmosphere for holding elections in a free and fair manner, Jacob said.
The army, he said, would be available to assist the civil administration in discharging its primary duty of maintaining peace.
Jacob, who was addressing a delegation of Sikhs under the banner of Indian National Sikh Council led by Jathedar Kuldip Singh Bhogal, said the government attached top priority 10 the developmental activities providing employment o youth. Elections to Punjab where Sikhs are demanding an independent homeland were cancelled again last summer when the rest of the country went to the polls.
The Congress (I) which was then supporting Prime Minister Chandra Shekhars government, had opposed the elections in Punjab, saying the situation there was not right for polls.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 29, 1991
