The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was changed in December 2023 and that the Election Commission's (EC) clock has already started ticking.......
Digital desk: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has stated that the Election Commission is dedicated to holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, despite the state not going to have Lok Sabha and Assembly polls at the same time.
“EC stands committed to holding Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir soon after the Lok Sabha elections,” the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said.
He also said, "The Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after the Lok Sabha polls as organizing both simultaneously is not viable from the security point of view."
When asked why there aren't Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir concurrent with the Lok Sabha election, the Election Commissioner responded that it's because every candidate in the Union Territory needs forces, which isn't feasible during a time when elections are taking place all over the nation.
Additionally, he stated that following a delimitation exercise, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was changed in December 2023 and that the Election Commission's (EC) clock has already started ticking.
"I want to make it clear that J&K pre-organization was passed in 2019, the delimitation commission made a report in 2022, and the reorganization Act and Delimitation Commission were not on the same page and they came on the same page after December 2023," he said.
In response, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, attacked the Election Commission for failing to arrange Assembly elections in the region at the same time as the Lok Sabha elections.
"So much for “One Nation One Election”. The EC is unable to conduct assembly polls in J&K with the general election even when they acknowledge that elections are due #GeneralElection2024," Omar Abdullah wrote on X.
The Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in five phases, and the counting of the votes will take place on June 4.
Assembly elections have not taken place in Jammu and Kashmir since Article 370 was revoked in August 2019. January 2024 marked the conclusion of the four, 892 elected village panchayats' five-year tenure.
Beginning on April 19, there will be seven phases to the Lok Sabha elections for 543 seats. The results will be declared on June 4. The news was released on Friday by the Election Commission.
"The first phase will be held on April 19, the second phase on April 26, the third phase on May 7, the fourth phase on May 13, the fifth phase on May 20, the sixth phase on May 25, and the seventh phase on June 1," Rajiv Kumar said.
Leave A Comment