Amid speculation over Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has said that the government is committed to ensuring a “clean and clear election”. Speaking exclusively to CNN-News18, Sinha said, “Home Minister Amit Shah said that first delimitation will take place and after that election, so it’s in continuation.”
Citing numbers from the Lok Sabha Elections held earlier this year, Sinha said, “The LS election was held recently and there was 58.6 per cent voting and in the valley also, it was more than 50 per cent. In the past 35-36 years, these have been some of the highest numbers, which means people excitedly took part in the election process.”
Sinha spoke about the Election Commission officials’ visit to the union territory, saying the team held consultations with all stakeholders during its two-day visit.
Urging people to participate in elections, Sinha said, “People must understand that elections decide the fate of your constituency, and I am sure in this election in J&K, people will surely use their wisdom.
Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation
The delimitation of Jammu and Kashmir was notified in May 2022. As per the notification, out of the 90 Assembly Constituencies in the region, 43 will be part of Jammu region and 47 for Kashmir region keeping in view the provisions of Section 9(1)(a) of the Delimitation Act, 2002 and Section 60(2)(b) of Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019.
Terror Attacks Won’t Impact Election Schedule: EC
An Election Commission delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar was in Jammu and Kashmir last week to review the preparedness of the administration as well as the security agencies for the conduct of the polls.
Kumar said that the EC was committed to conducting polls in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest and would not allow any internal or external forces derail the electoral process. “All political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are batting strongly for holding assembly elections as soon as possible,” he added.
“The administration should be able to deal with any such situations and it is capable of that… These things will not have an impact on the elections at all. Our forces and entire administration are capable enough to deal with any situation that comes in the way. The flag of Jamhooriyat will continue,” he assured.
As per an order from the Supreme Court, the ECI has to complete elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30. However, the elections cannot be held due to security concerns in the Union Territory before August 19 due to the annual Amarnath Yatra which is scheduled between June 29 and August 19.
It is important to note that the last elections in the erstwhile state took place in November-December 2014. In November 2018, the assembly was dissolved, and in 2019 the process of splitting the state into two UTs, J&K and Ladakh, started.
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