Srinagar, July 22: The Member of the Legislative Assembly for Langate Er Rasheed on Friday welcomed the decision of the state government to replace secret ballot with open ballot in Legislative Council elections. However, he was quick to add that it would not be enough to curtail political corruption in the state.
 “The recent cross voting scandal in the LC polls brought to fore the brazen political corruption rampant in J&K,” Er Rasheed said in a statement. 
 “Not only laws and regulations but politicians and political parties have to change themselves to end the corruption in any kind of elections in JK. The decision to introduce open ballot replacing secret voting in LS elections is appreciable, but it is not the surest way to check political corruption. If the government is serious about the issue, then it should not shy away from inquiring the recent cross voting scandal in LC polls,” he stressed. “The big question is still there that who sold and who bought the LC votes against money. It is desecration of the public mandate if the issue is put at the backburner.”
 He maintained the political morality can not be defined by any individual or party.
The MLA Langate said political parties should be ready to face public scrutiny rather than hoodwinking the common man by political gimmicks.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 22 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST