The schedule for elections in Jammu and Kashmir may be announced next week, around August 20, which is the deadline for the final publication of the electoral rolls for the union territory. News18 has learnt that voting could be held in four to five phases, starting probably in the third week of September and stretching till October.
Forces stationed in J&K for the Amarnath Yatra will remain there after the pilgrimage ends on August 19 and will be used for area domination exercises in the run-up to the polls. According to sources, it is being considered if northern Kashmir can go to polls in the earlier phases given the region starts getting snowfall in October.
Polls in Haryana and Maharashtra could happen in October in a single phase once the polls in J&K are concluded and the central forces get free for duties there. The elections in Jharkhand, which happen in multiple phases, could be slotted in November-December, like in 2019.
The ECI as well as senior government officials have said that they are committed to holding elections in J&K as per the top court-mandated deadline of September 30, 2024. The announcement is, hence, expected around August 20 as a minimum one-month period is needed between the announcement of the polls and the first phase of voting. A final check on the security situation by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the central government is expected this week.
People would be voting for a government in J&K after a decade. An Election Commission of India (ECI) team was in the union territory last week.
This is a pivotal moment for J&K which five years ago saw Article 370 being watered down, Ladakh being carved out as a separate UT, and the state’s status being changed to a union territory with a legislature.
Since then, violence has ebbed in J&K and the government’s own figures in Parliament last month validated this, buttressing the “success story” of normalcy returning fast to Jammu and Kashmir.
J&K’s people showed the yearning to cast their ballot when a record 58.4% voting percentage was recorded in Lok Sabha elections this year.
Comments
0 comment