IN a statement that gives people in Jammu and Kashmir little hope for early polls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday that the assembly elections in the union territory will be held with various factors in mind, including weather and security concerns. The CEC said that the delimitation process and the revision of electoral rolls in the union territory has been completed. Similarly, returning officers and additional electoral registration officers have also been appointed.
Previously, the election commission invited representatives from eight recognised national and 57 regional political parties to a demonstration of a modified version of the M3 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) that allows migrants to vote at polling stations outside their home constituencies. Major J&K parties such as National Conference and the PDP who also participated in the meeting made a strong pitch for the polls in the union territory.
As for the weather and security, the concerns cited by the CEC for being factors in holding polls in J&K, this is not an opinion shared by J&K political parties or for that matter people in the region. True, Kashmir is in the middle of winter, but if the polls are announced now, they can only be held by March-April, which is the spring season. And as for the security, Kashmir is now a considerably more peaceful place, a surprising turn of events which government boasts as its singular achievement following the withdrawal of the region’s special status in August 2019. So, now is, in a sense, the ideal time for the Assembly polls.
J&K has not had an elected government since June 2018, when Governor’s rule was imposed after the PDP-led coalition government lost its majority following the withdrawal of support by the BJP. The last four years have witnessed a drastic political makeover of the state-turned-union territory, so much so that in many aspects, the current J&K bears little resemblance to what it was pre-August 2019.
This should normally pave the way for the polls but this doesn’t seem to be the case. For some reason, the elections keep getting deferred. More so, at a time when there is a palpable desire for polls in the region. There is thus hope that the central government will take steps towards holding the long delayed exercise. If deferred further, there will be little scope for the polls considering general elections are due to be held in May 2024.
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