BJP to go by any decision taken by ECI
Full EC will visit J&K shortly: CEO
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 18: Barring the BJP, almost all political parties today favoured simultaneous Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir with Lok Sabha polls at an All Party Meeting (APM) convened by the Election Commission, which listed preparations undertaken by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for conduct of general elections including publication of final electoral rolls of the State on January 31.
The BJP representatives at the meeting said whatever decision the Election Commission of India takes on the Assembly elections will be acceptable to the party while four other major political parties including National Conference, People’s Democratic Party, Congress and Nationalist Panthers Party supported holding of Assembly polls with Lok Sabha elections.
CEO J&K Shailendra Kumar, who had convened the meeting, told the Excelsior that representatives of the political parties were briefed by him that the full Election Commission of India would be visiting Jammu and Kashmir shortly to meet political leaders and officers of the civil and police administration especially those engaged with conduct of the elections for their assessment of the situation.
“The Commission will meet the stakeholders including the political parties and they can give their view point,” he said.
Kumar, who briefed the All Party Meeting on preparedness of the Commission for Lok Sabha elections, said the final electoral rolls will be published on January 31 but addition and deletion of names in the voter lists or change of location will remain a continuous process. He said new Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have also reached the State.
The CEO called upon all political parties to deploy their representatives for booth level assistance to check addition, deletion or change of names in the voter lists so that there were no complaints later.
Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, senior PDP leader and former legislator, who represented the party at the All Party Meeting, told the Excelsior that he called upon the Chief Electoral Officer to recommend simultaneous conduct of Assembly polls with Lok Sabha elections and ensure transparency in conduct of polls.
“There should be level playing field for all political parties and no interference from the Election Commission in conduct of the elections,” Bhat said.
Sheikh Bashir, veteran National Conference leader and party’s representative at the meeting, said he gave party’s view point to the Election Commission representatives that the Assembly elections should be conducted along with Parliamentary polls and there should be no delay of any kind in the elections.
“It will be good for health of the State that both the elections are held together,” Bashir said and called upon the Chief Electoral Officer to ensure adequate security to leaders and candidates of all political parties saying there should be no leniency on this account.
The Congress delegation comprised Raman Bhalla and Usmaan Majeed, both former Ministers and Haji Asgar Ali Karbalaie and they too called for early conduct of the Assembly elections in the State along with Lok Sabha polls.
Bhalla said the Congress was of the view that the Assembly elections can’t be delayed in any case and it was Constitutional requirement also for the Election Commission to conduct polls well before expiry of six month term of President’s rule.
“The Election Commission shouldn’t come under any kind of influence,” he added.
Nationalist Panthers Party leader and former Minister Harshdev Singh said the Election Commission should have imposed the Model Code of Conduct as per the standing guidelines as soon as the State Assembly was dissolved and hold Assembly polls. He said the Assembly elections should be held before or with the Lok Sabha elections and no delay on this account will be tolerated.
Harshdev charged that some officers of district Udhampur are working for the BJP and the Election Commission has done nothing despite a representation being submitted by him. As a mark of protest, Harshdev staged walk-out of the meeting while his two party colleagues, Gagan Partap Singh and Surinder Choudhary attended the meeting.
BJP leader Yudhvir Sethi, who represented the party at the meeting, said the decision taken by the Election Commission of India on conduct of Assembly elections in the State will be fully acceptable to them.
“The Election Commission is free to take the decision,” Sethi said.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), J&K, Shailendra Kumar today interacted with the representatives of recognized political parties in the State on various issues related to the electoral process, especially on Special Summary Revision and updation of Electoral Rolls.
The CEO held wide ranging discussions with the political leaders and also sought their views on the forthcoming elections in the State. He briefed on the preparedness of the authorities for smooth conduct of Parliamentary as well as Assembly elections.
While seeking cooperation from the political parties to ensure complete transparency in the electoral process, the CEO urged the leaders to make optimal use of the on-line facilities of various services being offered by the Election Commission of India through online portal NVSP http:/ /www.nvsp.in, which can be accessed at a click of button for enrolment as well as verifying/rectifying particulars of an already enrolled voter. He urged them to educate the people through their workers and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to enroll new voters, delete the names of dead voters and rectification of wrong entries/particulars.
Briefing about the functioning of EVMs, the CEO informed that to ensure complete transparency in the electoral process, now the Election Commission has added another component called VVPATs which shall be available at each and every polling station to further enhance the confidence of voters. To familiarize the voters and BLAs about the functioning of EVM-VVPAT, a massive awareness programme is being launched soon whereby the Election officials will be visiting every nook and corner of the State to educate the masses. Necessary instructions in this behalf have been conveyed to the District Election Officers (Deputy Commissioners), said the CEO.
He further informed that the Election Commission of India has allocated 17,000 additional EVMs with VVPAT facilities to the State for being used in the ensuing elections. He said as and when the machines will reach in different district headquarters, the concerned District Election Officers (Deputy Commissioners) will inform the Political parties and in their presence the shifting/reallocation of machines would be done as per standard SOP. Such instructions have already been issued to the concerned DEOs.
The CEO urged the political leaders to appoint their BLAs on priority who can help the BLOs in ensuring right particulars of new voters and alterations in the voter lists. He said the District Election authorities will organize training programmes for the political workers, BLAs on use of EVMs and other election related activities so that they can educate the voters about the same. He also informed that after publication, the new Electoral Rolls will be made available to all the parties for their information and further use.
On the issue of holding of simultaneous polls and readiness of the State Government, the CEO informed that his office has already taken necessary steps for holding the elections, but decision lies with the Election Commission, who will take a final call at an appropriate time after taking into consideration all the aspects. He said that a team of Election Commission will visit the State soon to have a review of situation with political leaders and other stakeholders for holding the elections.
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