EC has exclusive right to decide schedule for Assembly poll: Sinha

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday said the Election Commission has the exclusive right to decide the schedule for Assembly election in the Union Territory.

However, he expressed hope that the democratic exercise would be conducted soon in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under the Central government rule for over six years after the fall of the PDP-BJP government in 2018.

Sinha was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a building of Malaviya Mission Teachers Training Centre at the University of Jammu.

L-G Sinha also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks during his visit to Srinagar in June that the Assembly elections will be held soon and the statement of Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament on August 5, 2019 that delimitation will be followed by Assembly polls and then statehood at an appropriate time.

“I would like to take you back to when Article 370 and 35A were abrogated. On that day, the home minister stated in Parliament that the sequence (of action) would be delimitation first, followed by Assembly election, and then statehood at an appropriate time. There has been no change in this stance from that day till today,” he said.

“The Assembly size was increased, and following that, the Delimitation Commission, chaired by Justice Ranjana Desai, worked on setting new boundaries. This was a time-consuming process. The Delimitation Commission also visited Jammu and Kashmir, consulted all stakeholders, and completed the delimitation process,” he explained.

“It is happening in the same sequence… I hope the Assembly elections will take place soon,” Sinha said.

He also referred to the recent two-day visit of the Election Commission’s full team to Jammu and Kashmir and their meetings with political parties, administration officials and other stakeholders before returning to Delhi. “What will be the date of (Assembly) elections is the exclusive right of the ECI (Election Commission of India),” he said.

Talking to reporters in Jammu at the end of the two-day visit on Friday, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the EC has already completed a review in Jammu and Kashmir, and with the Amarnath Yatra concluding on August 19, security requirements will be assessed in Delhi before announcing the election dates.

The visit of the Election Commission was the first major exercise for preparing the grounds for holding the maiden Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5, 2019.

The visit of the three-member EC team led by Kumar comes ahead of the September 30 deadline given by the Supreme Court for the completion of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, opposition parties, including the National Conference and Congress, have raised concerns that the government might delay the elections in Jammu and Kashmir due to the recent surge in terror attacks.

L-G Sinha pointed out that the Lok Sabha elections in the union territory were successful, with an overall 58 per cent voter turnout. Over 50 percent voted in the valley alone, he said.

“This is significant, as it marks the first time in 35-36 years that such a large number of people, including youngsters, women, and elders, voted in the valley. It clearly shows that people have faith in democracy. Earlier, only 11-12 per cent of voters used to participate,” he said.

Addressing concerns raised during previous elections in Jammu and Kashmir, he remarked that, except for one or two instances, all past elections were questioned by people who said the polls were unfair but the recent Lok Sabha elections were “conducted peacefully and in a completely fair manner”.

“The administration is fully prepared for the assembly elections, and I am confident that they will be completely peaceful and fair,” he added.