Simultaneous Assembly polls or not
Addl companies remain cause of concern
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 26: Full Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold a meeting in New Delhi after completion of summary revision of Electoral Rolls in first week of January to take a call on whether to hold simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly or defer the Assembly polls.
Highly placed official sources told the Excelsior that the Election Commission hasn’t taken any decision so far on when it would hold Assembly elections to the State, which faced militancy in the Kashmir valley and holding polls there had always been tough task. Anantnag Lok Sabha seat has been lying vacant since June 2016 and the Election Commission couldn’t hold by-poll to the seat for nearly two and half years due to disturbances in South Kashmir.
“The full Election Commission headed by Sunil Arora, the Chief Election Commissioner, will meet in New Delhi after publication of final Electoral Rolls in first week of January to have detailed assessment of security situation and other aspects before deciding on whether to hold simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls or defer the Assembly elections, which has been one of the options in view of security situation,” sources said.
However, Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held in the months of April-May as new Lok Sabha has to be constituted before May 16.
When contacted, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), J&K Shailendra Kumar told the Excelsior that the decision on holding elections will be taken by the Election Commission of India.
“We are engaged in preparations for publication of final Electoral Rolls,” he said.
Kumar has conveyed to the State Government that there should be no transfers of officers/officials engaged in Electoral Roll revision work during the period of revision as it adversely affects the gigantic work involving meticulous planning, professional management, close supervision, monitoring and discussion with stakeholders including political parties. Therefore, he said, during the Electoral Rolls revision, the transfers of officers/officials engaged in this exercise should be avoided.
The State Government has accordingly directed the Administrative Secretaries, the Divisional Commissioners and the Deputy Commissioners to strictly comply with the instructions issued by the Chief Electoral Officer.
Sources said the Parliamentary elections for six Lok Sabha seats were likely to be held in April-May.
“Polls to four Lok Sabha constituencies including Jammu-Poonch, Udhampur-Doda, Baramulla-Kupwara and Srinagar-Budgam were likely to be completed in April while in South Kashmir seat of Anantnag-Pulwama and mountainous Ladakh constituency, the elections might be held in the month of May,” sources said.
Sources were of the view that security scenario will remain one of the major considerations before the Election Commission of India in taking a call on holding Lok Sabha and Assembly elections together as the State Government would require large number of additional companies of para-military forces for simultaneous exercise.
However, it may not be possible for the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, to spare large number of additional para-military companies for Jammu and Kashmir alone as it had to provide companies all over the country in view of Parliamentary polls.
“In the absence of required numbers of additional para-military companies, the Government would have to stagger the elections to many phases,” sources said pointing out that Lok Sabha elections in 2014 were held in five phases from April 10 to May while Assembly polls were also held in an equal number of phases from November 25 to December 20.
Though the Assembly elections are to be held within six months of dissolution of the House, sources said in view of security concerns, they can be extended too and in that scenario, the President’s rule can be extended beyond six months. The Assembly was dissolved on November 21 and, if the elections are not deferred, they have to be completed well before May 21, 2019.
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