A delegation of the Election Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar is currently on a three-day tour of Jammu and Kashmir.
Commission officials on Tuesday began two-day consultations with political parties in Jammu and Kashmir to review preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the Union Territory.
During this time, many political parties including BJP urged the Commission to conduct assembly elections along with Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
BJP has also agreed to hold simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
Leaders of the National Conference, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), Aam Aadmi Party and Congress are also among those who met Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
Party leader and former minister Nasir Aslam Wani, who is leading the National Conference delegation, said he has asked the Election Commission to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir along with the Lok Sabha elections.
After meeting the Election Commission, Wani said, “The people here have not got the right to choose their government for almost a decade.
Therefore, we suggested that along with the Lok Sabha, assembly elections should also be held.” He said, “If Prime Minister Modi wants to implement ‘One Nation One Election’, then start it from Jammu and Kashmir.”
He also said that holding elections twice separately would hamper economic activity, especially tourism, in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the other hand, PDP leader Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura said that his party also advocated simultaneous holding of Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. After the meeting, he told reporters, “Now the Election Commission has to take a decision on this.”
BJP leader RS Pathania said that the party is ready for simultaneous elections. He alleged that National Conference, PDP and Congress are fraudsters who have spread lies in the name of half-truths to fool the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP leader demanded that polling stations be set up at places outside the Union Territory where members of the Kashmiri Pandit community are living to make it easier for them to vote.
Officials said that after the meeting with political parties, the Election Commission will conduct a detailed review of the election preparations with the District Election Officers and Superintendents of Police.
On Wednesday evening, Election Commission officials will hold talks with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer PK Pol and nodal officers of the state police.
Let us tell you that the last assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in 2014. After the elections, a coalition government of PDP and BJP was formed in the state.
However, the coalition government fell in June of 2018 and there has been no elected government since then. With the removal of Article 370 in August 2019, the central government divided the state into two union territories.
Last year, in December 2023, the Supreme Court had ordered to hold assembly elections by September 2024.