Jammu: A lawmaker in Kashmir Friday accused the ruling National Conference of appointing a senior officer as head of J&K police for political gains ahead of parliamentary and assembly elections.

President of Awami Ittihad Party and MLA Langate, Engineer Rashid claimed on the floor of the house in Jammu that National Conference has cleared way for K Rajendra appointment as the new Director General of Police for political gains.

He claimed that in a short period, Mr Rajendra was promoted to the top post and his way was cleared beforehand so that he could take charge of prized post.

“National Conference has its own interest in it as this party want to rig the polls and for this purpose, they have cleared all the hurdles for K Rajendra,” he said.

However, his remarks were criticized by the National Conference while the Peoples Democratic Party said that they had no objection with any officer but the fact was that the government was misusing the administration.

Describing Rashid as a non-serious politician, Tanvir Sadiq, political advisor to chief minister Omar Abdullah said if Rashid was alleging that elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held on the instructions of police and other agencies, then his own victory from Langete constituency was under doubt.

“K Rajendra is the senior most police officer who has proved his worth from time to time. He is a force to reckon with and without any doubt he deserves the top position,” Tanvir said.

National Conference legislator Dr Shiekh Mustafa Kamal said that these are administrative decisions and government takes every decision after taking different components into consideration. He told CNS that besides seniority, suitability and merit also mattered.

“Rashid must understand that National Conference is the people’s voice which doesn’t require the assistance from police or any other agency,” he said.

Peoples’ Democratic Party spokesperson Naeem Akhtar told CNS that the accusations of Rashid reflect the credibility crisis facing the coalition between National Conference and Congress because they had set a bad record in 1987 by resorting to rigging.“It is not about the officers but about the intentions and methods adopted by the government. The same officers have delivered very transparent and free and fair elections under different dispensations like in the parliament elections held in 2004 and municipal elections in 2005,” he said adding that the same set of officers conducted elections and not fingers were raised but the apprehensions about the present government and its tactics are understandable because of the way they have destroyed institutions, misused the administration and tampered with procedures.