Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) on Sunday claimed that the leaders of the opposition parties continue to be deprived of the requisite security cover even as the maiden District Development Council (DDC) elections are scheduled to start later this month.
It also claimed that security categorisation of political and other vulnerable people in the Union Territory was decided by the authorities concerned on the basis of political affiliations. The non-BJP leaders especially those opposing the policies of saffron regime were being harassed in all possible ways with none to take cognisance of even their threat perception, NPP chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh said after several prominent persons joined the party here.
Not only the contesting candidates of opposition parties but their top leadership has also been divested of their due security cover. While the lower rung workers of BJP have been provided with huge paraphernalia of security staff, the heads of recognised opposition parties in J&K are being deliberately exposed to the threats of militants by withdrawing even their existing security covers, Singh claimed.
Accusing the BJP of political vendetta , he said, If the petty workers of BJP could be given security vehicles and paraphernalia of security staff, why are the non-BJP leaders despite threat perception being deprived and divested of security cover?
The JKNPP leader said only recently Hizbul Mujahideen had issued threats to political persons of J-K but the UT administration had failed to even seek the views of the opposition leaders who faced threat to their lives from such terror organisations.
It could be a conspiracy of the ruling party leaders to get rid of the non-BJP leaders in J-K by denying them requisite security, he alleged.

Press Trust of India