All eyes on Election Commission’s visit to J&K ahead of poll schedule decision

Political parties say we are ready to participate, Need a level playing field and foolproof security cover during the polls

Chandra Maurya

August 8, 2024

Political parties say we are ready to participate, Need a level playing field and foolproof security cover during the polls

Election Commission to meet political parties in J&K

All eyes are set on the long-awaited visit of the Election Commission of India to take a call on holding Assembly polls in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir as per the directions of the Supreme Court of India by September 30, 2024.

According to official sources, the Chief Election Commission, Rajiv Kumar will be accompanied by Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S S Sandhu to Srinagar to meet the leaders of the different political parties.

The political leaders are expected to submit a detailed note to the Election Commission listing their observations as regards the conduct of the maiden Assembly polls after the Abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

Leaders from the National Conference, Congress, Peoples Democratic Party and Bharatiya Janta Party, CPI (M), JKAPNI Party, and People’s Conference are scheduled to call on the Election Commission on Thursday.

A high-level security review meeting is also scheduled to take place. The full Election Commission is expected to interact with the top brass of the security forces deployed in Jammu and Kashmir to take stock of the prevailing security scenario. A meeting is scheduled to take place between the election authorities, district police chiefs, and the returning officers with the Election Commission to assess the poll preparedness on ground zero and other related matters.

Following their visit to the Kashmir valley, the Election Commission will be visiting Jammu on August 10.

Where do political parties stand?

The principal opposition party, the National Conference, has been preparing for the Assembly polls for a long time. During their scheduled meeting with the Election Commission, the party delegation is expected to reiterate their party position. Ahead of the meeting Vice President and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah addressing a public meeting in Kathua on Wednesday said the National Conference is prepared for the elections and wants a level playing field for all parties in the Union Territory.

Commenting on the issue of restoration of ‘Statehood‘ Omar said “They (BJP) cannot dare to lie to the Supreme Court making a promise on the subject”.

“The ECI is touring Jammu and Kashmir from tomorrow (Thursday) and our only request to them is to issue the election notification as soon as possible to start the process. We are also hopeful that all parties will be treated equally so that we can fight the elections on a level playing field,” Omar told reporters on the sidelines of a public rally at Nagri in Kathua district.

On the recent Home Ministry order granting more powers to the Lt Governor, Omar said for the time being, all the powers will be with him but the government cannot escape from fulfilling its promise of restoring full Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

“They have talked about it in Parliament but I will go with what they have said in the Supreme Court because in other places they might not speak the truth. They will not dare to lie to the Supreme Court as they have assured it that after elections they will restore full statehood (to J&K) – not half, half-hearted, Delhi or Pondicherry model,” he said.

BJP UT chief Ravinder Raina has also directed the party leaders to attend the meeting with the Election Commission and submit their viewpoints. A delegation of BJP leaders led by Sunil Sethi, R S Pathania, senior Advocates and Rafiq Wani, BJP Seh Prabhari Kashmir is scheduled to attend the meeting.

“The BJP is ready for the Assembly elections. The Election Commission should announce the polls,” Raina said, adding the BJP delegation will submit a comprehensive viewpoint to the Commission during its meeting in Srinagar.

Former MLC and Chief spokesman Ravinder Sharma, Peerzada Sayeed, Ghulam Nabi Monga, Raman Bhalla and Lal Singh are scheduled to meet the Election Commission.

Asserting that the Congress is ready for the Assembly elections, Ravinder Sharma, former MLC said the party will seek level-playing field for all political parties in the polls including adequate security cover not only to the contestants but also the party leaders.
“Security to the Congress leaders is one of our concerns which we will take up during our meeting with the Commission,” Sharma said.

CPM delegation will comprise Mohammad Abbas Rather, Abdul Rashid and Ghulam Mohammad Shah, party general secretary MY Tarigami said.

He said the CPM will seek fair elections with level-playing field and adequate security for all candidates and campaigners keeping in view the security scenario.

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1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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