Srinagar
The National Conference, which has decided to boycott the municipal and panchayat elections, on Thursday urged the Centre to defer the hearing on the petitions challenging Article 35A till an elected government takes over in the state.

The NC on Thursday held an all-party meeting, which was called by party president and MP Farooq Abdullah at his Gupkar residence here, to discuss the security and political situation ahead of the municipal and panchayat elections.

The meeting was attended by Congress, CPM and the Democratic Party Nationalist , while the Peoples Democratic Party gave it a miss. The Congress was represented by former minister Taj Mohiuddin, CPM by MY Tarigami and DPN by Ghulam Hassan Mir.

Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said the NC, Congress, CPM and DPN had sought removal of Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, engaged by the state government to defend Article 35A in the Supreme Court, as he had “gone beyond his brief”.

Omar said the parties demanded engaging the lawyers who had earlier been tasked by the state government with defending the case on the petitions in the Supreme Court. It said the political parties in the state did “not trust” the ASG.

“All leaders agreed that the case, scheduled for hearing on January 9 next year, be deferred till an elected government was in place in the state. Only an elected government can defend the case,” Omar told mediapersons.

The National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, the two main regional parties, have already decided to boycott the elections in view of the petitions challenging the validity of Article 35A in the Supreme Court.

The parties which attended the all-party meeting agreed to the views of the NC president, who informed the leaders about his party’s decision to boycott the polls, Omar said.