‘Assembly polls in J&K after Parl elections’
*5 LS seats to have voting in equal number of phases
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 16: Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir which are due for past sometime will not be held simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls. The Parliamentary elections in the UT will, however, be conducted in five phases. Lone seat in the UT of Ladakh will have voting in the fifth phase along with Baramulla.
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Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar made announcements to this effect at a press conference in New Delhi while releasing nation-wide schedule of Parliamentary polls and four State Assemblies.
Kumar along with Election Commission officials visited Jammu and Kashmir from March 11-13 to assess security situation and preparedness for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
At the press conference, the Chief Election Commissioner said the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after the Lok Sabha polls as organizing both simultaneously is not viable from the security point of view.
To a query as to why Assembly polls are not being held along with Lok Sabha elections in J&K, the CEC said security has to be provided to every candidate in the Union Territory, which is not possible at a time when elections are being held across the country.
With the announcement of elections, the Model Code of Conduct in Jammu and Kashmir has come into force, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer PK Pole said in an order issued this evening. It directed all District Election Officers to ensure strict compliance of the MCC.
As per the officials, the MCC will remain in force till counting of votes on June 4 is over.
The CEC said “we stand committed that as soon as these elections are over … We will have availability of (security) forces then, we will hold elections there (in Jammu and Kashmir) as soon as possible.”
He clarified that the logistical challenge of providing security to every candidate in the Union Territory during nationwide polls made holding both events concurrently impractical.
“We are very conscious about it. We are also blamed for it from time to time (delay in Assembly elections). When we went there (Jammu and Kashmir), people said we had to go to the Supreme Court to ask you to conduct polls…,” Kumar said.
He also said the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act was amended in December 2023 after a delimitation exercise and the clock had started ticking for the Election Commission (EC) since then.
“The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act was passed in 2019. There was a provision for 107 seats, 24 of which were in Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir. Then the delimitation commission came and there was a change in the seats. The Reorganization Act and delimitation were not in sync. That happened in December 2023. So our meter started running from December 2023,” Kumar said.
He said while the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir favoured the Assembly elections along with the parliamentary polls, the entire administrative machinery said it cannot be done simultaneously.
“Every Assembly segment would have 10-12 candidates, which would mean more than 1,000 candidates. Every candidate has to be provided forces. It was not possible at this time,” Kumar said.
However, he said the Election Commission stands committed that as soon as Parliamentary elections are over, they will hold Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
In December last year, the Supreme Court, while upholding the Centre’s decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, gave a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, but directed restoration of Statehood “at the earliest”, besides setting a deadline of September 30 this year for holding Assembly polls in the region.
As per the schedule of Parliamentary elections released by the Election Commission, the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be conducted in five phases with voting in each of the five Parliamentary constituencies of the Union Territory to be held in each phase.
Udhampur Lok Sabha seat, twice represented by Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh, will go to polls in the first phase on April 19. The notification will be issued on March 20 while March 27 will be the last date for filing nominations. The last date for withdrawal of candidature will be March 30.
Dr Jitendra Singh is seeking third term from the constituency while the Congress is yet to name its candidate.
Voting for the Jammu Lok Sabha seat, which is held by BJP’s Jugal Kishore Sharma for two consecutive terms, will be held on April 26 in the second phase of elections. The notification will be issued on March 28 and April 4 will be the last date for filing nominations. April 8 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature.
Here also, Jugal is trying for hat-trick while the Congress has not announced name of the candidate.
The Anantnag constituency, which spreads across the Pir Panjal range and includes Rajouri and Poonch areas after delimitation, will go to polls on May 7 in the third phase. The notification will be issued on April 12 and April 19 will be the last date for filing nominations. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 22.
The seat has become high-profile with BJP UT chief Ravinder Raina being frontrunner in the BJP. There has been no consensus among INDIA bloc partners on fielding common candidate and therefore heavyweights are expected to jump into the fray. Only yesterday, the UT Government granted 10 percent reservations to Paharis under Scheduled Tribes (ST) category who have significant number of voters in the constituency.
After delimitation, Pulwama and Shopian districts have been added to the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency while two Assembly segments — Budgam and Beerwah — were deleted.
For the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in the Kashmir region, polling will be held in the fourth phase on May 13. While the notification will be issued on April 18, the last date for nomination filing is April 25. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 29.
National Conference president and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah is sitting MP from Srinagar. There are reports that either Farooq or his son Omar Abdullah could be the NC candidate from Srinagar. However, a formal announcement hasn’t been made so far.
Baramulla constituency in north Kashmir will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth phase of elections. The notification will be issued on April 26 while May 3 will be the last date for filing nominations. The last date for withdrawal of candidature will be May 6.
The seat is presently represented by Mohammad Akbar Lone of the National Conference.
The Ladakh Lok Sabha seat, which is lone Parliamentary constituency in the UT of Ladakh and is spread over Kargil and Leh districts, will go to polls in the fifth phase of polls on May 20.
The seat is presently held by the BJP for two consecutive terms of 2014 and 2019 when Ladakh was part of undivided Jammu and Kashmir State.
A total of 86.93 lakh voters, including 42.58 lakh women and 161 people of third gender, are eligible to exercise their franchise in Jammu and Kashmir. Nearly three lakh voters form the electorate for the Ladakh seat.
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