Elections in J&K will be held immediately after Lok Sabha polls, announces CEC

Updated on: Mar 16, 2024, 17:11:10 IST

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Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday announced that the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election will be conducted after the Lok Sabha polls.

“EC stands committed to holding Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir soon after LS elections,” Kumar said at the presser held on Saturday.

It was expected that the poll panel would announce elections to the Union territory, which last witnessed elections way back in 2014.

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When asked why are assembly elections not being held simultaneously with the general elections, Kumar said that the security forces have to be provided to every candidate, which is not possible at a time when elections are being held across the country.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar with Gyanesh kumar and Dr S Sandhu during the press conference. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

He added that the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was amended in December 2023 after a delimitation exercise and the clock had started ticking for the Election Commission (EC) since then.

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"The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was passed in 2019. There was a provision for 107 seats, 24 of which were in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Then the delimitation commission came and there was a change in the seats.... The reorganisation Act and delimitation were not in sync. That happened in December 2023. So our meter started running from December 2023," Kumar said.

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"All parties in Jammu and Kashmir said the Assembly election should be held with the parliamentary polls, but the entire administrative machinery said it cannot be done simultaneously. Every Assembly segment would have 10-12 candidates, which would mean more than 1,000 candidates. Every candidate has to be provided forces. It was not possible at this time," the poll panel chief added.

The poll panel did announce Lok Sabha election schedule for J&K where five states will witness polls on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13 and May 20. Ladakh goes to polls on May 20.

Udhampur and Jammu will vote on April 19 and 26. Anantnag-Rajouri votes on May 7, Srinagar on May 13 and Baramulla on May 20. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.

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