On Thursday, a team of leaders from Jammu and Kashmir met with the Election Commission of India to demand that Assembly elections be held as soon as possible.
Following a meeting with the commission, the delegation’s leader, former J&K chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, informed the media that the leaders encouraged the EC to begin the democratic process in J&K as soon as possible. He stated that they told him that the delimitation had likewise been accomplished. He stated that the leaders made no timetable and that the EC heard what the delegation had to say.
The Opposition, in a memorandum signed by leaders of the NC, PDP, Congress, CPI (M), AAP, RJD, DMK, NCP, and other parties, asked the EC to call elections so that the people of J&K may reclaim their democratic rights.
“For the past five years, Jammu and Kashmir have been without a legislative assembly and an elected administration. “In defiance of the word and spirit of the Constitution, an unrepresentative and unaccountable bureaucracy is allowed to run the government to the general public’s displeasure and inconvenience,” they wrote.
They noted that the Constitution required the EC to hold elections in J&K, and any failure to do so would violate fundamental rights.
Following the notification of the delimitation in May last year, a top EC official stated that the process of appointing Returning Officers, rationalising polling sites, and updating the electoral roll had been finished by November. Winter weather has hindered polling since November, but conditions will be permitted beginning in May, according to the official.
When the Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland Assembly elections were announced in January, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar was asked about the J&K elections. He claimed that all pre-election procedures were performed. “As a result, we are aware that once the process is completed, elections must be held,” he stated.
