EC announces J&K poll dates to meet Supreme Court deadline
Image credit X.com Election Commission of India
EC announces 3-phase Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, August 16: The Election Commission on Friday announced poll dates for Jammu and Kashmir. The Assembly elections in J&K will be held in three phases.
“The elections in J&K will be held on September 18, September 25, and October 1,” said the Election Commission in a press conference on Friday. The counting of the votes will take place on October 4.
The Supreme Court in a historic judgment on the validity of the abrogation of Article 370 has faxed deadline for holding Assembly polls in J&K. The apex court in a verdict delivered last year had asked the Election Commission to hold Assembly elections in J&K by September 30, 2024.
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While elections will commence on September 18, the whole exercise will extend beyond the deadline set by the Supreme Court. The people in Jammu and Kashmir had voted for the first time after the abrogation of the Article 370 in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had sprung a surprise by not fielding candidates in the Kashmir valley. The BJP had won two out of the total five Lok Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir in the parliamentary elections.
The BJP had shared power in Jammu and Kashmir by forming government in alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba Mufti were the last two chief ministers of J&K. They were supported by the BJP.
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The BJP had hoped to make inroads in the Kashmir valley by supporting the Gram Panchayat leaders. But the saffron outfit appears to have made no headways with the party’s strategy in the valley.
The BJP’s ploy to eat into the base of the Congress also paid no dividends. The National Conference and the Congress won three of the total five Lok Sabha seats.
The alliance of the National Conference and the Congress is likely to maintain the momentum in the Assembly elections also. Jammu and Kashmir is a Union Territory. The Centre through an Ordinance has further strengthened the policing powers of the lieutenant governor.
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The government had assured parliament at the time of the discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill that the statehood will be restored in due course. However, the Centre is yet to restore the statehood to J&K even after five years of the passage of the J&K Reorganisation Bill which had also carved out Ladakh.
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