EC to seek legal opinion on J&K assembly polls

The Election Commission has decided to seek opinion of an eminent legal expert before deciding on holding assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under President's Rule since December 19 last year.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and the two other Election Commissioners – Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra – discussed the issue of holding assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir in a meeting on Tuesday.

The commission decided to seek “further clarification on certain aspects of the issue” from Ministry of Home Affairs.

The J&K assembly's six-year term was to end on March 16, 2021, but it was dissolved after a ruling coalition between the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party fell apart in June 2018 and the State was placed under Governor's Rule. After the six-month-tenure of the Governor's Rule ended, the State came under President's Rule on December 19, 2019.

The state assembly was dissolved in November 2018.

Several political parties had urged the EC to conduct a fresh assembly poll along with the Lok Sabha elections. The poll-panel however on March 10 announced only the schedule of the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, but not the assembly polls.