The Arunachal Pradesh Youth Congress (APYC) on Thursday threatened to launch a series of democratic agitations against the Pema Khandu-led BJP government in the state for delaying the panchayat elections.
Addressing media persons at the press club, APYC president Geli Ete came down heavily on the Pema Khandu government of delaying the panchayat elections in the name of ‘two-tier panchayat system’.
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The panchayat elections in the State were scheduled to be held in the month of May.
The state wing of the Youth Congress also demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Pema Khandu and State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Alo Libang on the matter.
The APYC has also submitted a memorandum to the State Governor, Brig B D Mishra, seeking his intervention for early notification of the panchayat elections.
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It further accused the state government of ‘planning to put the panchayats to death because of selfish interests, in order to curtail grassroots democracy at the village level.’
The State Youth Congress leaders also said that the State Election Commission was supposed to issue the panchayat elections notification on April 13, but that, after the State Assembly passed the bill on two-tier panchayat in the State, the bill is now ‘awaiting the President’s assent’.
While asserting that delaying the panchayat elections means curtailing the democratic rights at the grassroots level, the State Youth Congress leadership also alleged that the State Government was ‘indulging in delaying tactics on the pretext of working on modalities for the two-tier panchayat’.