EC to visit J&K next week to review assembly polls preparedness

Srinagar, Aug 2 (PTI) The Election Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, will visit Jammu and Kashmir from August 8-10 to review preparedness for assembly polls, weeks before the Supreme Court’s September 30 deadline for holding elections in the Union Territory.

Kumar will be accompanied by Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S S Sandhu.

In March, Kumar — who was then the sole member of the three-member commission to visit the Union Territory — had assured political parties and the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the poll panel would soon hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

At that point, the two posts of election commissioners were vacant. They were filled days before the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 16.

After record turnout in the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Kumar had said, “This active participation is a huge positive for assembly elections to be held soon so that the democratic process continues to thrive in the Union Territory.”

In Srinagar, the commission is likely to first meet the political parties. A review will be done with the chief electoral officer and the central forces coordinator.

The commission will also review the preparations with election officers and police superintendents of all districts, as well as the chief secretary and director general of police.

On August 10, the commission will visit Jammu for a review meeting with enforcement agencies. It will also hold a press conference in Jammu to brief the media on the review process.

Whenever assembly elections are held in Jammu and Kashmir, they will be the first since provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution were abrogated and the erstwhile state divided into two Union Territories in 2019.

The electoral exercise in Jammu and Kashmir is usually spread over a month.

Following a delimitation exercise, the number of assembly seats has gone up from 83 to 90, excluding those allocated to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Last December, the Supreme Court directed the poll panel to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30.

In a fresh indication that assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir are imminent, the Election Commission on Wednesday asked the Union Territory administration to transfer out officers posted in their home districts, an exercise it holds ahead of conducting elections.

The commission has been following a consistent policy that officers directly connected with the conduct of elections in a poll-bound state or Union Territory are not posted in their home districts or places where they have served for a considerably long period.

It is usual for the poll panel to issue instructions related to transfers of officers ahead of Lok Sabha and assembly elections.

Recently, it had ordered the updation of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir and the three states.

In June, it decided to accept applications seeking allotment of ‘common symbols’ from registered unrecognised parties in the Union Territory.