What Took Election Commission So Long to Hold Polls in J&K? CEC Speaks Up in Jammu – News18
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. (File pic/PTI)
The Chief Election Commissioner also kept the doors open for holding the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the union territory together
The last assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir took place in 2014. Then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti resigned in June 2018 and the assembly was dissolved in November that year. Since then the region awaits elections. On Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar spoke about the timeline and how it is not the poll body that delayed the elections in the union territory.
The CEC recalled that the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was implemented in 2019. At that time, there were 107 assembly seats in the state, including 24 in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). So there were 83 seats.
Changing numbers
“In 2022, the delimitation was accepted. There was no point in holding the elections before that. When delimitation was done in 2022, the number of seats increased to 114. So, the assembly seats, after excluding PoK, stood at 90,” Kumar said while addressing the media in Jammu.
Post-delimitation, the UT had 90 assembly seats, including 16 reserved seats. He added that there was dissonance between the reorganisation Act and delimitation, which needed to be resolved.
“The numbers became one in December 2023 after the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill came. The number of seats increased accordingly… So, the reorganisation Act accepted the delimitation in December 2023 and it is March 2024. We got only three months and there is no delay from our end,” he added.
Kumar said that political parties, in a meeting held on Tuesday, asked him why it took so long for the ECI to hold elections in the UT and why the issue had to be dragged to the court.
The Supreme Court in December 2023 ordered the ECI to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024.
Simultaneous elections
The CEC also kept the doors open for holding the assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the UT together.
“We are aware of our responsibility and the fact that there should not be any political vacuum. The elections should be held as soon as possible,” he said.
He said that the poll body will decide about holding the elections in the UT keeping in mind the security situation and feedback from the concerned parties. The CEC assured that they would hold the elections “as soon as possible”.
He also highlighted that all the candidates in J&K were given security cover and all these arrangements will have to be discussed before finalising election dates.
It is important to note that J&K was the last on the list of the ECI for the pre-poll tour. The team has visited a number of states in the last few weeks to take stock of the situation.
The term of the current Lok Sabha is ending in June and the ECI is likely to announce poll dates in the next few days.
