SRINAGAR: The Election Commission of India declared on Saturday that the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will not be held simultaneously with the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

During a press briefing in New Delhi to unveil the schedule for Lok Sabha elections across 4 states and the 4 state assemblies, CEC Rajiv Kumar emphasised that only Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh will hold assembly polls concurrently with the Lok Sabha elections.

The Lok Sabha elections are slated to commence from April 19 and will be conducted over 7 phases, with the vote counting scheduled for June 4.

Furthermore, elections for 5 Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir will be conducted in 5 phases, with one constituency voting in each phase. These phases are scheduled for April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.

SRINAGAR: Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said that the Commission is concerned about holding Lok Sabha and Assembly elections but the final call on whether to hold two elections concurrently, will be taken about thorough consultations with the forces’ agencies and political parties.

He, however, said that elections will be held soon without much delay.

“We are concerned about Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in JK. Majority of political parties we met in Srinagar and Jammu demanded that Assembly and Lok Sabha polls be held simultaneously,” CEC Rajiv Kumar told media persons at Jammu.

He said, “As far as holding Lok Sabha and Assembly polls simultaneously, we will take a final call after a thorough security review and consultations with the political parties. One thing is sure that we want early Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in JK.”

He said that elections will be held in a peaceful manner.

“There will be free and fair polls in JK,” the CEC said. (KNO)

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Monday accused BJP of using the reservation bill as a walking stick to reap election dividends in Jammu & Kashmir.

Lamenting the proposal, party’s chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said the proposed bill is blind to the ground realities.

“I have no problem with representation to under-represented communities. That was also the logic behind having an upper house which was scrapped under the J&K Reorganisation Act,” he said.

There are reports that the union government is moving to amend the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 to reserve two seats in the J&K Legislative Assembly for ‘Kashmiri Migrants’ and one for displaced persons from Pakistan occupied Kashmir. These members will be nominated by the Lieutenant Governor.

NC’s Tanvir said the party's opposition is to the proposal of LG nominating individuals.

“This should be the prerogative of the elected government and not an un-elected representative of Delhi. The fact that the LG is being authorised to nominate any person is another admission that the BJP are convinced they will lose the next election in J&K and are using the nomination route to try to get a handful of members in the house. That said, two or three seats will make no difference to the future of the BJP,” he said, adding that the BJP should stop hiding behind the election commission and the LG.

Tanvir said that the party has already rejected the J&K Reorganisation Act of 2019, and that the entire process is currently under judicial scrutiny in the highest court of the country. “It raises concerns about how the government can proceed with a decision while its parent Act is still being debated in the Supreme Court. Such decisions go against the constitutional propriety as it preempts the SC decision. Ideally such a decision should have been left to a democratically elected government,” he said.

The BJP said the stage is set for another historic moment and termed it a great gesture by PM Modi led government

“Re organisation bill to be tabled in the parliament's moonsoon session:Kashmiri pandits to get two seats. KPs were forced to leave their home land and live a miserable life. One seat will be given to PoJK people who rejected two nation theory and stood with Indian union. Later JK LG to nominate three members for KPs and PoJK people in the Parliament. Indeed a great gesture by PM Modi led government,” Altaf Thakur, BJP JK spokesman said. (UNI)

SRINAGAR: Former Minister Harsh Dev Singh on Monday said that the writ petition pertaining to the conduct of early assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir has been listed for hearing by the Supreme Court on July 6.

Singh has filed the writ petition seeking indulgence of the court for restoration of democratic process in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Singh in a handout said that as per the “cause list” issued by the Supreme Court registry the matter would be heard by a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Court No.1 of the Apex court of the country.

“We have been compelled to move the top court of the country in view of the uneasy disquieting silence maintained by the Government of India and the Election Commission of India (ECI) over the issue,” he said.

Emphasising the need for the early elections to J&K Legislative Assembly in J&K, Singh said that any delay in this regard would not only amount to subversion of democracy but also violate the orders of the Supreme Court.

“The people could not be deprived of their democratic rights in the state only for the political inexpediencies of the ruling party at the Centre by taking to frivolous excuses”, said Singh.

He said, “A full time elected govt was a must to deal with the armed insurgency in the erstwhile state besides coping with the multiple issues confronting the UT.”

“The militancy which had erupted in early 90s in J&K had gradually subsided after the formation of an elected govt in the state,” he added and said that it had almost died down during popular govts but unfortunately got revived during the centre’s proxy rule.

“Any delay therefore in handing over power to the sons of soil through free and fair elections could prove counterproductive and further complicate the already volatile situation in the UT,” said Singh.

Pointing towards the growing tensions in various parts of the UT and the failure of administration to come up to the peoples’ expectations, Singh said that bureaucratic rule was no answer to the prevalent crisis. (UNI)

SRINAGAR: Former Minister Harsh Dev Singh on Thursday filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India seeking early Assembly Elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh with prayer to the Apex Court have appealed to the Court to issue directions to the Union of India and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take immediate steps for restoration of democratic process and revival of peoples govt in the erstwhile State in consonance with the spirit of constitution and successive rulings of the top Court of the country.
The writ petition has been filed in the name of senior NPP leader Manju Singh, Des Raj Chairman Block Development Council Ramnagar and Ashri Devi member DDC Udhampur.
Speaking to media persons, Singh said that the matter was likely to be heard by the SC Bench within the next couple of days on the date to be fixed by the SC Registry wherein he had raised various questions of law and of facts in support of his contentions to get the desired relief from the Court.
Singh averred that the Supreme Court on several occasions has held that Assembly Elections must be held within six months in all those States/UTs where Assemblies are pre-maturely dissolved.
“You can’t create a constitutional void, a hiatus situation for the constituencies”, the Supreme Court has again observed adding further that it is the people who eventually suffer in the absence of an elected representative to espouse their cause. Denying democratic government is a punishment to the people, as observed by the top court as well.
“It is however shocking that the Assembly Elections continue to be denied in J&K on flimsy grounds only to enable the BJP to run the affairs of the government in J&K through its chosen ones. J&K has been deprived of democratic government for the last four years,” stated Singh. (UNI)

SRINAGAR: National Conference President and Member of Parliament Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said the government of India was only giving one or other excuses on holding Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Center is saying the situation has normalized in Jammu and Kashmir. One of our local IGs says that militancy has declined but is not over. Why this double talk? If the indices of security have improved then what is holding them back from holding elections?,” Abdullah said while speaking to journalists during his visit to south Kashmir’s Anantnag district,
“ First it was security then it was the weather. Now that the weather is clear and the security situation admittedly better. What is it then? When we visited the Election Commission, we were told that the delimitation exercise, and voter lists have been completed. All they are doing is manage new excuses every day to delay Assembly elections,” he said.
While responding to a question on the removal of chapters relating to Mughal history from NCERT books, he said, it is a “sheer mockery”.
“What are we going to tell visitors who built the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and many other fascinating buildings/structures? How will you hide the architectural and cultural insignias of Mughals spread across the country? It's there to remain. People come and go, but history remains unchanged,” he asked.
Earlier Abdullah visited Kokernag to commiserate with senior leader Choudhary Zaffar Ali Khatana on the demise of his brother Choudhary Amjad Ali Khatana. (UNI)

SRINAGAR: National Conference on Wednesday said that the further delay in holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is unfortunate.
“Delay in holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir puts a big question mark on the role of Election Commission of India”, NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said in a statement here today.

Reacting to the Chief Election Commissioner's acknowledgement of a vacuum in J&K that needs to be filled, Dar said, “We have a person no less than Chief Election Commissioner himself acknowledging the “current vacuum” in J&K. Still the concerned agency seems to be in no hurry to conduct elections, on the contrary they manage to find new excuses to delay polls”.
He said it's obvious that BJP's J&K unit is drawing back in fear of facing the people as they are not brave enough to face voters as they have failed to mitigate peoples’ sufferings.”
He said that it was expected that the election commission would announce assembly elections in J&K with the Karnataka elections.
“But to our surprise and dismay ECI once again skipped J&K”, he said and added “It seems as if people of J&K have been relegated to deep abyss and forgotten,”.
He said there seems to be no reason in further delaying the Assembly elections as the weather is also getting pleasant and suitable for conducting any electoral exercise.
“They have only two reasons for delaying the polls further - one could be the worsening security situation which they claim has improved- and the second being ECI giving a cover to BJP who are afraid to face the voters”, Dar claimed.
It’s been almost four and a half years since J&K had an elected government, Imran said adding, “If the elections can be held in Karnataka, why can't they happen in J&K? BJP doesn't give a toss to people's mounting woes.
All it is concerned about is its electoral prospects. They know they will lose badly here because of their dealings”, he added. (UNI)