J-K assembly polls: The Election Commission will meet with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday to assess the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said. This meeting follows a recent review of poll preparedness in the region conducted by the poll body.
Recently an ECI delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar reviewed the poll preparations in Jammu and Kashmir last week. The EC delegation also included Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S S Sandhu, who held discussions with Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary Atal Dullo and the Union Territories police chief R R Swain.
ECI committed to conducting Assembly Election: CEC Rajiv Kumar
During a press conference in Jammu CEC Kumar emphasised that the EC is committed to conducting elections in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest and would not let any “internal and external forces” derail the electoral process. He said that all the political parties in J-K are “batting strongly” for holding Assembly Elections.
"We are committed to conducting polls in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest and we will not let any internal or external forces derail the election," Kumar said.
"All political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are batting strongly for holding assembly elections as soon as possible," he added.
Assembly polls have not been held in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014. The polls were due to be held in early 2019 following the dissolution of the legislative body of the erstwhile state in 2018.
However, after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories in August 2019, the Assembly polls could not be held due to various reasons, including a delimitation exercise completed in 2022. In December of last year, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to conclude the election process by September 30, 2024.
(With PTI inputs)
