With the Supreme Court deadline for holding Assembly polls looming large, the Election Commission (EC) held a series of meetings here today 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) and Congress at the International Convention Centre (SKICC) here.
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.
NC provincial president, Nasir Aslam Wani, who led a five-member party delegation told reporters that his party demanded that the polls be held at an earliest.
“We told them that the LG, along with his few officers, cannot run J&K. We face many problems here, including political, security and developmental issues, all of which need to be addressed at the micro level. The issues of the people can be resolved by their elected representatives, and the ECI has assured us that elections will take place,” Wani said.
“We discussed several issues, including the need to ensure a level playing field for all political parties. We stressed the importance of ensuring a level playing field for which officials should not be appointed based on political interests, and the security situation should be managed so that everyone has a fair chance,” he said.
“The ECI has assured us that elections will be held. They said they had certain tasks to complete, which have now been done, including addressing reservation issues. I do not see any reason why elections cannot be held now,” he said.
“We also mentioned that previous Governments conducted elections in even tougher situations, like in 1996. We told them that they need to maintain their credibility and defeat those forces opposed to holding elections here,” he said.
PDP leader Khurshid Alam, a member of the party’s delegation that met with the EC, said they told the commission that the people of the place have right to elect their own Government.
“We do not have personal differences with the LG, but as a political appointee, we have concerns that his decisions may be biased. Therefore, we requested the EC to ensure that the Government is sanitised to provide a level playing field without any bias,” he added.
PDP leader Asiya Naqash who was also part of the delegation that met the EC said: “We questioned them why, when all other regions across the country are deciding their fate democratically, the people of J&K are being deprived from democracy”.
The BJP’s J&K unit called for the elections to be held within the Supreme Court’s deadline, party spokesman RS Pathania said. “We are hopeful that J&K will soon have a democratic Government. I am optimistic that the notification will be released shortly,” he added.
Another leader of the saffron party, Sunil Sethi said “We demanded the restoration of security for political workers and leaders, which has been withdrawn. We also urged them to address the problems faced by the people during elections. We asked that orders be passed to the administration to understand the people’s problems and ensure free and fair elections. They seem willing to conduct elections, which is why they came here to meet us. I think elections will take place soon”.
Congress leader GN Monga told reports that democracy should flourish in J&K. “We call ourselves the mother of democracy, yet the people of J&K have been without elections for many years. Democracy should flourish here, and elections should be held soon,” he told reporters.
“We told them that there is discrimination in the security provided to between parties. We appealed that all parties should be weighed in the same scale,” he added.
He said that the EC assured them that elections will indeed happen here in a peaceful manner. “We have put forward our concerns,” he added.
Ravindra Sharma, Congress said: “We also raised the issue of security and told them that it is the Government’s responsibility to handle security.”
BSP leader, Sirindra Singh, said that they raised the issues like granting voting rights to outsiders. “We told them that it should either be stopped or properly regulated before being implemented. We also raised security issues. Based on their assurances, we believe elections will take place soon,” he added.
The delegation, headed by party president Darshan Rana, included vice president Charanjit Chargotra and general secretary Sunil Majotra.
Talking to media persons after meeting the ECI team, Darshan Rana said the party has demanded that Assembly elections should be held in Jammu and Kashmir soon. Along with this, he said, the party demanded from the Election Commission of India that before the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the leaders of Bahujan Samaj Party should be provided security.
“Keeping in view the recent terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, it is not possible to campaign in the terror infested area without security,” he explained and added that in such a situation, there is need to show seriousness on the issue of security.
The BSP also drew attention towards alleged errors in the voter lists and demanded rectification of the same. Along with this, the Bahujan Samaj Party demanded that the polling agents of the party should get a better place to sit at the polling booth and they should get full cooperation from the officers deployed on election duty along with security.
In a statement issued here, the ECI said that they commenced a pivotal two-day visit to J&K to oversee poll preparations for Assembly Elections.
“The visit underscores the ECI’s unwavering commitment to facilitating a seamless and transparent electoral process in the region,” it said.
“Today, the ECI team engaged in extensive deliberations with a spectrum of stakeholders, including representatives from national and state recognized political parties to solicit valuable insights and understand their concerns, thereby fostering their active involvement in the electoral process”.
“Later in the day, the ECI reviewed the poll preparedness with District Election Officers and Superintendents of Police (SPs) to deliberate on administrative and security arrangements crucial to the conduct of elections”.
“Additionally, an evening session was held with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Special Police Nodal Officer (SPNO), and Central Police Forces (CPMF) Nodal Officer to review coordination efforts among various agencies involved in election management.”
“On August 9, the visit will culminate with a final meeting with the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police,” it read.
“The ECI team will then travel to Jammu for review with enforcement agencies and culminating in a press conference”, it further read.
