Jammu and Kashmir heads to the polls

Political parties welcome the announcement of Assembly polls

August 16, 2024

EC announces a 3-phase poll schedule beginning Sep 18, results on Oct 4

Sticking to the September 30 deadline set up by the Apex Court, the Election Commission of India announced on Friday the much-awaited poll dates for conducting the maiden Assembly polls in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir after a long gap of 10 years.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi along with two other Election Commissioners, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the Assembly polls will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1. The poll results will be announced on October 4.

The political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have welcomed the announcement of the poll schedule.

Before announcing the poll dates the Election Commission had visited Jammu and Kashmir last week to review the poll preparedness of the local authorities.

Cutting across party lines the political parties had batted for a level playing field and early Assembly polls before September 30, as per the Supreme Court deadline, in the Union territory of Jammu Kashmir.

The Election Commission had also reviewed the security arrangements with the top brass of the security agencies.

A similar meeting followed in New Delhi two days ago where the Union Home Secretary decided to fully back the Election Commission to ensure the peaceful conduct of the polls.

Assembly polls have not been held in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014. The polls were due to be held in early 2019 following the dissolution of the legislative body of the erstwhile state in 2018.

However, after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories in August 2019, the Assembly polls could not be held due to various reasons, including a delimitation exercise completed in 2022.

In December of last year, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to conclude the election process by September 30, 2024.

In Srinagar last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said an election would be held soon and that statehood would be restored.

EC sets the ball rolling

In preparation for the election, the EC said the final voter list would be published by August 20, the day after the Amarnath Yatra ends. Around 87 lakh voters, he said, are expected to vote.

“The people want change… they want to script a new future,” Election Commission chief Rajiv Kumar said, as he outlined the poll body’s plans to hold a safe and successful election in J&K.

“We recently visited J&K to take stock of election preparation. Great enthusiasm was seen… people want to participate in the process. People want elections as early as possible…” he said, recalling the “long queues” at polling booths in J&K and Ladakh during the Lok Sabha election.

Those queues, he said, were “proof people not only want change but also want to become part of that change. A glimpse of hope and democracy shows the people want to change the picture… they want to write their destiny. The people chose ballots over bullets…” he declared.

JK government orders massive reshuffle

And, hours before the poll schedule was announced in the national capital there had been a large-scale reshuffle of senior police officers, including district chiefs and the head of J&K Police’s Intelligence unit.

The reshuffle also came as several districts in Jammu face increased terror attacks.
At least 156 IAS, IPS, JKAS and JKPS officers including five DCs and ten district SSPs have been reshuffled in the last 24 hours.

Since January 1, 2024, 15 terror attacks have taken place across six districts of the otherwise peaceful Jammu region, which have resulted in the deaths of 28 people, including 14 security personnel, a village defence guard, and five terrorists.

To contain the situation, the Union government has already deployed additional troops across the Jammu region to flush out the foreign terrorists from their safe hideouts carved inside the forested areas of Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Udhampur, Doda, Kishtwar, and Kathua.

Two battalions of the Assam Rifles have also been inducted in the Machhedi area of Kathua and other upper reaches. Three thousand additional army troops and 2000 BSF men have been deployed across the region to plug the gaps and launch anti-terrorist operations across different sectors.

Note:
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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