EC to take final call on simultaneous polls in J&K after security review, feedback from political parties

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir may have to wait further for an elected government as Election Commission of India (ECI) Wednesday announced that the final call on holding Assembly and Lok Sabha polls simultaneously will be taken after consultations with security agencies and political parties.

Addressing a presser in Jammu, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said as far as holding Assembly polls with the Parliament elections was concerned, they will take a final call after a thorough security review and consultations with the political parties.

“We are concerned about Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in J&K. Majority of political parties we met in Srinagar and Jammu demanded both the polls be held simultaneously,” Kumar said on day two of the poll body team's three day visit to J&K.

The ECI team interacted with political leaders in Srinagar on Tuesday who had various demands, the most common being the holding of assembly elections in the UT at the earliest.

J&K has been without an elected government since June 2018 when the BJP broke its alliance with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), forcing Mehbooba Mufti to resign as chief minister.

“Changes in number and composition of seats in the Union Territory post-2019 have changed the situation, and that there has been no delay on part of the ECI with regard to the holding of polls in J&K,” Kumar said.

On review of poll preparedness in the UT the CEC said, “We met representatives of all political parties who demanded that the elections should be completely fair, transparent and there should be no discrimination.”
“Some parties were of the opinion that the administration can act unilaterally, hence a level playing field should be ensured. The parties also said that security arrangements should be the same for the candidates or all political parties,” he added.