Centre on Thursday informed Supreme Court that it is ready for elections in Jammu and Kashmir any time now and that the final decision will be taken by Election Commission, state poll panel. It also said, restoration of complete statehood in Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will take some time. Centre however clarifies that the Union Territory status is temporary.
The last election was held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014 where People's Democratic Party (PDP) formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The central government's response was conveyed to the court by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, after a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, hearing the pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370, asked it to set a specific time frame for restoration of electoral democracy in the erstwhile state. "The union territory status of Jammu and Kashmir is not a permanent thing. So far as Ladakh is concerned, its UT status is going to remain for some time," Mehta said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench that polls in J-K will be held in three stages - first there will be panchayat polls, second municipal polls and then legislative assembly polls.
National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and son Omar have been pushing for early elecyions in Valley.
Omar Abdullah had even said that the Election Commission should muster courage to tell people why assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are not being held. "Is there a pressure on them (EC) not to hold elections? Let the Election Commission show some courage and say that they are under pressure. There is something fishy."
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