Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 24: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is giving final touch to the election schedule for Jammu and Kashmir in consultations with Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the State Umang Narula and was likely to announce it anytime now.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the ECI headed by Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath and comprising Election Commissioners HK Brahma and Nasim Zaidi was giving final touch to the election scheduled including total phases in which the elections will be held, dates of the phases and Assembly constituencies to be taken up in initial phases in view of weather conditions in December.
Sources said the Election Commission was segregating the areas, which will become snow bound in early December, to include them in initial phases of the elections and keep plain areas like Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Srinagar districts for the final phases.
“Instead of district wise elections, the Commission was considering taking the hilly constituencies first and plain segments in the same districts later to ensure that voting was held in the upper reaches before snowfall, which cuts off many areas and leads to closure of roads,” they said, adding that the entire election schedule is being worked out keeping in view the harsh weather conditions of December in some of the areas including Ladakh, Kupwara, Doda belt etc.
Apart from weather, availability of Central Police Forces (CPFs) is also a major issue for the Election Commission.
The election schedule is also being framed keeping in view the CPFs the Union Home Ministry can make available for Jammu and Kashmir as Assembly elections in Jharkhand were also being held simultaneously.
The J&K Government has asked for 550 to 600 additional companies of para-military forces from the MHA if the Assembly elections were to be held in seven phases like 2008. However, if the Election Commission decides to reduce phases of the elections, the Government will need more CPFs for conducting the elections smoothly as threat of terror attacks always looms large in the State especially during the elections.
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