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Kapil Sibal says Election Commission's 'loyalty visible', makes big claim on Jammu and Kashmir polls
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday said that the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls will be held after the Lok Sabha elections.
In a scathing criticism of the Election Commission of India (ECI), Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Kapil Sibal on Sunday accused the poll panel of partisanship towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking to news agency ANI, Sibal said, “They are showing their loyalty towards the BJP and saying that we are scheduling elections in seven phases so that the army of campaigners and resources that you (the BJP) have can use it accordingly.”
“ECI's loyalty is visible in every phase,” Sibal alluded.
Expressing concerns over the yet-to-be-announced assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Sibal said that turning a state into a Union territory and then not holding polls would be “unconstitutional”. He further claimed that there won't be any election in J&K.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday said that the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held “soon after Lok Sabha elections” due to security concerns, with both events deemed unfeasible to be held simultaneously.
"But we stand committed that as soon as these elections are over ... we will have availability of (security) forces then, we will hold elections there (in Jammu and Kashmir) as soon as possible," Kumar told a press conference, adding that there was unanimous resistance from the administration against holding simultaneous polls in the Union territory.
When asked about Kumar's assurance, Sibal said, “How are they committed? First, they (ECI) said that they would conduct the (assembly) elections in Jammu and Kashmir after the Lok Sabha elections. But that will be a UT election and not the state election.”
“People are asking, how can you make the state a Union Territory and then not conduct the elections for the same? It's unconstitutional, and I believe that there won't be any election (in J&K).”
Sibal stressed that the Supreme Court shouldn't have accepted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's statement on conducting assembly elections in the UT “any time now”.
“It will be the prerogative of the new government to hold or not hold elections.”
Several political parties expressed disappointment at the Election Commission's (EC) decision not to conduct simultaneous polls in the Union Territory.
National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Saturday said he was a bit "disappointed but not surprised" at the Election Commission's (EC) decision not to hold the much-awaited Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir with the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
"I am a bit disappointed, but not surprised because all the air that has been created for one nation, one election has failed the test. The EC, the Jammu and Kashmir administration and to that extent, the government of India is unable to put its money where its mouth is," Abdullah said when asked about the poll panel deciding not to hold the Assembly election with the Lok Sabha polls in the Union Territory.
The NC leader said this was the ideal time to roll out the process of "one nation, one election".
"If you cannot have the Jammu and Kashmir polls at the same time with the rest of the country, how are you promising it for 2029? This was a test case and in this test case, they have clearly failed. We were very hopeful because we have not had Assembly polls since 2014," he said.
