JOIN USAfter delimitation, revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir on cards
The Election Commission will assess the security situation before taking a final call on conduct of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir after the completion of delimitation of 90 Assembly and five Parliamentary constituencies of the Union Territory (UT).
The Commission, headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai, is expected to submit its final report on May 6 after which the revision of electoral rolls will be taken up by the EC, sources said.
The Commission had put its report in public domain on March 14 and sought objections from the public till March 21. “The panel will be visiting Jammu and Kashmir on March 28 and 29 for public sittings to decide objections. After taking objections into account, it will submit its report to the Union Law and Justice Ministry on or before May 6,” they said.
Sources said after submission of the report, the EC could go for summary revision of electoral rolls which haven’t been updated for the last three years. The revision is mandatory before initiating the exercise for conduct of Assembly polls.
In the proposal put in public domain, the Commission had increased the number of Assembly seats in Jammu region from 37 to 43 while in Kashmir, the tally had been increased from 46 to 47.
Political parties in Kashmir in one voice have rejected the Commission’s proposal to increase the number of Assembly seats in Jammu region by six against one in the Valley.
The EC will also take security review of the situation later before taking a final call on holding much awaited Assembly polls elections in the UT. J&K is without an elected government since June 2018 when the BJP broke its alliance with PDP forcing the chief minister of the PDP-BJP alliance Mehbooba Mufti to resign.
Five months later, on November 28, 2018, then J&K governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the legislative assembly and a month later on December 19, 2018, President Ram Nath Kovind issued a proclamation promulgating President's Rule in J&K under Article 356 of the Constitution of India.
Eight months later, the BJP government abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated J&K into two Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The ongoing delimitation exercise has taken centrestage in J&K’s frozen politics as both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have several times in the past stated that Assembly polls in the UT will be held only after the completion of delimitation.
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