With the Supreme Court deadline for holding Assembly polls looming large, the Election Commission (EC) held a series of meetings in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday with political parties and district heads of the civil administration and police in order to get a feedback for holding the election.
The EC team, led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar and including election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S S Sandhu, met representatives of registered political parties, including the National Conference (NC), People's Democratic Party (PDP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party (JKPP), at the International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar.
Immediate Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir was the dominant demand of all the political leaders who met the visiting EC team.
Assembly polls have not been held in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014. The polls were due to be held in early 2019 following the dissolution of the legislative body of the erstwhile state in 2018.
However, after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories in August 2019, the Assembly polls could not be held due to various reasons, including a delimitation exercise that was completed in 2022.
Talking to reporters after party-wise meetings with the EC delegation, the leaders said they were unanimous in their demand for immediate Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
They also demanded that a level-playing field should be ensured in the polls for the restoration of democracy in the Union Territory.
The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to conclude the election process by September 30. The poll schedule is yet to be announced by the EC, with just a little over seven weeks left for the deadline.
The BJP also batted for immediate Assembly polls. Its Jammu and Kashmir unit spokesperson R S Pathania said, "We told the EC that we want the election to be conducted as soon as possible." The party wants the polls to be held within the apex court's deadline, he added.
NC's Kashmir provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani, who led a five-member party delegation to meet the EC officials, said, "Our only demand is that the people of Jammu and Kashmir now want to have their own government. We told the EC that you came here many times and we met you but now, there should be some definite decision on it." "We said there has been no government in Jammu and Kashmir since 2018 and the Assembly election has not taken place for the last 10 years," Wani told reporters and added that the NC told the poll panel that a lieutenant governor, his lone advisor and a few bureaucrats cannot run the Union Territory.
Wani said the party also demanded a level-playing field in terms of providing a secure environment for the polls.
Political, developmental and security issues can be addressed when people have their own representatives, he said and added that the EC has assured the leaders that the election will take place this time.
Congress leader G N Monga said democracy should flourish in Jammu and Kashmir. "We call ourselves the mother of democracy but the people of Jammu and Kashmir are going without elections for many years. Democracy should flourish here and the election should be held sooner," he said.
Monga said the Congress delegation also discussed Jammu and Kashmir's security scenario with the EC.
"We told them that there is a discrimination between parties on providing them security. We appealed that every party should be weighed on the same scale," he added.
PDP leader Khurshid Alam, who was part of the party's delegation that met the EC, said the people of Jammu and Kashmir should have the right to elect their own government.
"What justification is there not to hold the polls when the government says the situation has improved and is better, when one crore tourists came here and when the parliamentary polls and the (Amarnath) yatra took place without any incident?" he asked.
Alam said the need of the hour is to restore democracy in Jammu and Kashmir. "The county believes in democracy, so we should have the election immediately," he said, adding that there was a very positive response from the EC.
After meeting the political leaders, the EC team received feedback from deputy commissioners and district police chiefs at a marathon meeting on poll preparedness in the Union Territory.
The poll panel is scheduled to meet Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole in the evening for his feedback on holding the Assembly polls.
A meeting with Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and Director General of Police R R Swain is scheduled for Friday morning, before the EC team moves to winter capital Jammu for the second leg of its visit.
The three-day visit will culminate on August 10 at Jammu, where the EC will hold a review meeting with enforcement agencies. It will also hold a press conference to brief the media on the review process.
In March, Kumar, who was then the sole member of the three-member commission to visit the Union Territory, had assured political parties and people that the EC would soon hold the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
At that time, the two posts of election commissioners were vacant. They were filled days before the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 16.
After a record turnout in the Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir, Kumar had said, "This active participation is a huge positive for the Assembly election to be held soon, so that the democratic process continues to thrive in the Union Territory."
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