EC issues rare snub to Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor G C Murmu for statements on Assembly polls

Irked by repeated statements by Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu on the assembly polls in the Union Territory, the Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday asked him to refrain from infringing upon its constitutionally mandated prerogative.

"It would be proper for (the) authorities other than (the) Election Commission to refrain from making such statements,” the poll-panel said, reacting to Murmu’s purported statements that the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) would be held after delimitation of the constituencies. The EC said that such statements by the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory “virtually tantamount to interfering with” its “constitutional mandate”.

The commission issued a press release referring to several media-reports quoting J&K Lieutenant Governor saying that the assembly polls in the Union Territory would be held after the process of redrawing the boundary would be completed.

The poll panel stated that it took exception to such statements by Murmu. It also underlined that scheduling elections was the “sole remit” of the EC in accordance with the Constitution of India.

Murmu joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1985. He was Expenditure Secretary in the Union Ministry of Finance before being appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of J&K on October 31, 2019.

“Before deciding the timing, the Commission takes into consideration all the relevant factors including topography, weather, sensitivities arising out of regional and local festivities in the area(s) where the election is to take place,” the EC stated. “For example, in the current times, (the) Covid-19 (pandemic) has introduced a new dynamic, which has to be and shall be taken into consideration at the due time.”

The commission, however, noted that the outcome of the delimitation process was also “germane” to the decision on timing of assembly polls in the Union Territory. “Similarly,” it said, “availability of central forces and railway coaches for transportation of the central paramilitary forces are important factors. All this is done after meticulous homework by the senior officials of the commission and a detailed assessment in due consultation with concerned authorities.”

The assembly election in J&K was not held after the coalition Government of the Bhraratiya Janata Party (BJP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) collapsed in 2018.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government had on August 5, 2019 moved to strip the special status guaranteed to the then state of J&K under Article 370 of the Constitution of India. The government had also initiated the process to reorganize the state into two new Union Territories – J&K and Ladakh, with only the former having a legislative assembly.

The Union Government had on March 6 last constituted a commission headed by the former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai to redraw the boundaries of the parliamentary and the assembly constituencies in the newly constituted Union Territory in accordance with the provision of the J&K Reorganization Act 2019.

The Act provides for raising the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of Union territory of J&K from 107 to 114, with 24 seats to be reserved for India's territory in J&K currently under illegal occupation of Pakistan.

Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra represents the poll-panel in the commission set up for delimitation of the constituencies as an ex-officio member.