Srinagar/New Delhi: The Election Commission has again given a miss to assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir with the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday saying that after the delimitation of seats in the union territory, the required amendment in the J&K Reorganisation Act was made only in December 2023 giving little time to the poll body.
The Election Commission announced the schedule for Lok Sabha Elections and assembly polls in four states -- Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.
Replying to a question on skipping the J&K assembly elections, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that the J&K Delimitation, which added seven seats to the assembly and the Reorganisation of the erstwhile state were “not in sync” with each other.
"The J&K Reorganisation Act was passed in 2019. In it, the J&K Assembly was allotted 107 seats of which 24 seats were reserved for Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir. Of the remaining 83, seven seats were reserved for SC and zero for ST. In 2022, after the delimitation, the number of seats was changed from 107 to 114. 24 of them reserved for Pakistan Occupied J&K. Of the remaining 90, 9 seats were reserved for ST, two seats for migrants. For 1 seat, nomination was allowed and it was decided that it would be reserved for displaced from PoK. Reorganisaton Act and Delimitation Act were not in sync. Therefore there was no occasion for the commission to conduct the elections till that happened. And that happened in December 2023 by amendment of the J&K Reorganisation Act. So our meter to conduct polls in J&K started in December 2023," Kumar said.
He also talked about the huge number of security forces needed to conduct Assembly Polls in the state, which, at this point in time, he said, was not possible to provide.
"All political parties in J&K asked us to conduct both Assembly and Parliamentary elections together. While we respect that and know it is our duty [to conduct the polls], the entire administrative machinery was against simultaneously conducting polls in J&K. The reason they gave was that when assembly polls will be conducting alongside Parliamentary elections, in one assembly, around 10 to 12 candidates contest. So we have around 1,000 candidates in J&K. Due to security concerns, each one of the candidates has to be provided atleast two section of forces. It means to provide security for around 1,000 candidates, we will need 450 to 500 additional companies of forces. Which at this point cannot be provided. But we stand committed that as soon as these elections are over, we will hold elections there," the CEC said.
Jammu & Kashmir awaits an elected democratic government since 2018 when President's rule was imposed in the erstwhile state after the BJP withdrew support from the Mehbooba Mufti led BJP-PDP coalition government. The erstwhile state, which was downgraded to a UT in 2019, saw its last Assembly elections in 2014. This is the longest ever time period that J&K has gone without Assembly elections.
The erstwhile state was deprived of grassroots representatives on January 9 this year, when the five-year term of the elected grassroots bodies expired.
Democratic space denied to people: J&K political parties react
Political parties in Kashmir are disappointed that Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir are not being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha election, saying a crucial democratic space is being "denied" to the people of the Union Territory by keeping the polls in a "deep freeze".
National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah said there is "something fishy" in not holding the Assembly election along with the Lok Sabha polls.
If there are conducive conditions for the parliamentary election, how is it not alright for the state election? There is something fishy," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister told PTI.
NC leader Omar Abdullah said the EC is unable to conduct simultaneous polls in Jammu and Kashmir even as it has acknowledged that the Assembly election is due in the Union Territory. "So much for 'One Nation One Election'. The EC is unable to conduct assembly polls in J&K with the general election even when they acknowledge that elections are due #GeneralElection2024," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said in a post on X.
The NC said while it had no expectations from the EC, it was hoping against hope that common sense would prevail and the poll panel would give the people of Jammu and Kashmir the right to govern themselves.
"We were not expecting anything from the EC because there was no positive vibe coming from it. We were hoping against hope that common sense will prevail and it will give people the right to govern themselves. But unfortunately, that has not happened," NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar told PTI. He said the EC has put the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir in a "deep freeze" again.
The People's Democratic Party (PDP) alleged that a crucial democratic space is being strategically denied to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. "A crucial space in democracy is being strategically denied to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for the last 10 years now. So much so that even the panchayat and municipal elections are not happening here when people are talking about conducting the parliamentary polls," PDP spokesperson Mohit Bhan said.
"We are absolutely sorry for the kind of management and affairs that are being run today at the whims and fancies of a certain political party. We strongly object to this," he added. PDP leader Naeem Akhtar said Jammu and Kashmir is facing "exclusion" from the democratic process. "Given what has been snatched from us, we did not have much expectations and we do not have much expectations even after the (Lok Sabha) election. The BJP will hold the election when it suits them," he claimed.
Akhtar said it does not "make much of a difference to us as any new government (in Jammu and Kashmir) will not be same as the earlier governments". "The new government under the present scheme of things is not even a glorified municipality," he added.
Chief spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress Ravinder Sharma told PTI that the EC has disappointed the people of the Union Territory. He said all political parties had unanimously demanded simultaneous polls in Jammu and Kashmir. "We have again been deprived of democracy," Sharma said.
However, the BJP defended the EC's move. "We also wanted the Assembly election to be held with the Lok Sabha polls. But it is the decision of the EC, which has said the Assembly polls will be held after the general election. It is a welcome step. There may have been security concerns," Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina said.
The Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference (JKPC), led by Sajad Lone, said while one election is being conducted, the EC should have held another one along with it. "We were hoping that the Assembly polls would also be conducted simultaneously. They should have conducted both elections together," JKPC spokesperson Adnan Ashraf Mir said.
Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader M Y Tarigami said the EC not announcing the Assembly polls was a big disappointment. "It is a big disappointment again for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The recent visit of the EC had generated a certain amount of hope that the polls might be held for the Assembly after a long time. But they have been deferred again by giving excuses," he said.
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