CEC: Decision on Simultaneous J&K Elections Pending Review and Stakeholder Feedback
Srinagar: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday that a final call on whether to hold Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir simultaneously will be taken after a review of the security situation and feedback from all stakeholders.
“We’re aware of our duties and responsibilities. There should be no political vacuum and elections for both the Lok Sabha and the J&K Assembly should be held as early as possible. There should be no delay from our side,” Mr Kumar told a press conference in Jammu after completing a three-day visit to the Union territory (UT) as the head of a 10-member team of the Election Commission (EC).
The poll panel held consultations both in Srinagar and Jammu with political parties as part of its review preparedness for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the UT.
Mr Kumar said that the decision whether to hold the elections for five LoK Sabha seats in J&K and those of the UT Assembly concurrently will be taken by the EC “after taking inputs from political parties, all the district magistrates, the SPs, the DIGs, the IGs, senior officers of the state government and paramilitary forces.”
He added: “We’re equally concerned about the Lok Sabha and (J&K) Assembly elections.”
The CEC confirmed that most of the political parties whose representatives met the EC team in Srinagar on Tuesday demanded that the Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls in J&K be held simultaneously.
“They also asked us why we have taken so much time to hold the Assembly elections in J&K and why the (Supreme) Court had to direct that steps be taken by the EC to conduct the elections of the J&K Assembly by September 30, 2024,” he said.
Mr Kumar said that the EC did not delay the Assembly elections in J&K, but the progressions related to the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, which became effective on October 31, 2019, and the delimitation report, which was released on May 5, 2022, under which additional six seats were added to Jammu division and 1 seat to Kashmir division in the Assembly, taking the total tally to 90 seats, played their role.
“There was dissonance between the J&K reorganisation and the delimitation process,” he said, adding that the Parliament had in December 2023 passed two major pieces of legislation amending the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 and the J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill 2023 to nominate two members from the “Kashmiri migrant community” and one representing the displaced persons from Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the J&K Legislative Assembly.
“So, our time to initiate the process of holding elections in J&K started only after December 2023. We got just three months. Therefore, there has not been any delay on our part,” the CEC said.
Mr Kumar said: “One thing is sure...we want early Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in J&K. The representatives of various political parties that met us demanded that there should be a level playing field and that no candidate should be discriminated against when it comes to providing security cover to him or her. We want to assure all that elections will be held in a peaceful manner; adequate security will be provided to all candidates and the Central forces will be deployed. These will be free and fair polls.”
Replying to a question, Mr Kumar said that the EC has received details from the State Bank of India related to the electoral bonds and will share all relevant information in time.
“The Commission has always believed in complete transparency. The SBI was supposed to submit the data by March 12. They have given us the details in time. I will go back and look at the data and will definitely disclose it in time,” he said.
