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Updated: Oct 01, 2019 07:29 IST

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said that there were only 200-odd people in preventive detention in Jammu and Kashmir now, down from 2000-2500 people kept in detention when Article 370 was nullified on August 5.

“Today in Jammu and Kashmir only 200-250 people are under preventive detention in view of the law and order. They have been kept under preventive detention respectfully, some in five-star guest houses, some in five-star hotels,” Madhav said during an event on Monday.

“I would also like to say that 200-250 people have been put under preventive detention and there has been peace in Kashmir since two months. You can understand what do the people of Kashmir want and what these 200-250 people want,” he added.

Amid shutdown and communication blockade in the Kashmir valley, the election authority on Sunday said the polls to choose chairpersons to the block development council in Jammu and Kashmir will be held on October 24.

Chief electoral officer (CEO) Shailendra Kumar announced the schedule for elections to 310 block development councils (BDC) at a press conference in Srinagar.

When journalists pointed out that the leaders of many mainstream political parties were under detention, Kumar said,“Whenever any candidate or political party approaches us for facilitating a level playing field for everyone, we will facilitate it. We will be responsive to all kinds of complaints.”

Asked if the detained party leaders will be allowed to campaign, he said: “It is not a big election. There will be no fierce door-to-door campaigning. It is a small electoral process…”.

Srinagar Lok Sabha MP and three-time former chief minister Farooq Abdullah has been detained under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act. The law empowers the government to detain people for two years if they are, in its opinion, acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the State.

Abdullah’s Gupkar residence in Srinagar has been declared as a subsidiary jail.

Other chief ministers - Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti - have been under detention on one ground or the other. At one point, the state administration had even suggested that this was for their own security.

The government has also restricted movement of political leaders from Delhi in the Kashmir valley, prompting some of them to file petitions in the Supreme Court to meet their party leaders or family members.