Election Commission to visit Jammu and Kashmir on August 8 to review assembly poll preparations
Jammu and Kashmir has been without an elected government since June 2018 when the BJP broke its alliance with the Peoples’ Democratic Party.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar along with election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and SS Sandhu will visit Jammu and Kashmir from August 8-10 to review the preparedness for the upcoming assembly elections in the union territory.
During their visit to Srinagar, the poll panel will engage with political parties and then meet with the chief electoral officer, UT's police nodal officer, and central forces coordinator to assess the election readiness.
The election commissioners will also review preparations with the chief secretary, police chief, district election officers, and superintendents of police from each district.
On August 10, the top EC officials will travel to Jammu to evaluate the coordination with enforcement agencies. Following this, they will hold a press conference to inform the media about the current status of election preparations.
The CEC had visited Jammu and Kashmir earlier in March, before the Lok Sabha elections and reassured both political parties and the public that assembly elections would be conducted soon.
The Election Commission of India has confirmed that assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are expected to take place before the September 30 deadline set by the Supreme Court.
The Commission has also requested the Jammu and Kashmir administration to reassign officials who are stationed in their home districts and those involved in the election process who will complete a three-year term before the end of September.
Jammu and Kashmir has been without an elected government since June 2018 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) broke its alliance with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), forcing Mehbooba Mufti to resign as chief minister.
The state was then headed by Governor Satya Pal Malik, who dissolved the J&K Legislative Assembly on November 28, 2018, shortly after Mehbooba Mufti staked her claim to form a government with the support of the Congress and the National Conference (NC).
Less than a year later, the Narendra Modi government abrogated Article 370, thereby ending special status to J&K, which was then bifurcated into two Union terroritories.
On December 11, the Supreme Court, while upholding the abrogation of Article 370, directed the Central government to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024, and to restore statehood at the earliest.
With inputs from ANI