New Delhi, Aug 14:
The Union Home Ministry is learnt to have conveyed to the Election Commission its readiness to provide adequate security personnel for assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said on Wednesday. The assurance was given by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla when he held a meeting with the election commissioners here.
Home Secy on board with
Last December, the Supreme Court directed the poll panel to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30.
The home secretary, the sources said, was “on board” with EC’s security assessment of Jammu and Kashmir relating to adequate security for contesting candidates as well as ensuring peaceful conduct of the democratic exercise.
He agreed to whatever the EC had sought for ensuring peaceful polls there, they said.
The Union Home Ministry is ready to provide sufficient number of security personnel proposed by EC to ensure the safety of candidates and for holding peaceful polls in the Union Territory, the sources said.
The poll panel on Wednesday afternoon held a detailed review meeting with Bhalla on the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir.
The sources described the meeting as “good” and said the home secretary was on board with the EC’s security assessment for holding assembly polls in the UT.
The EC flagged the issue of the security of candidates and polling stations while seeking forces for peaceful polls.
The last assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, when Ladakh was its part, were held in five phases. This time too the number of phases could be the same.
The electoral exercise in Jammu and Kashmir is usually spread over a month.
It was not yet clear whether polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be held along with other states where assembly elections are due or separately.
Last time, Haryana and Maharashtra polls were held together and Jharkhand elections were announced later.
So far the EC has visited J-K and Haryana to assess poll preparedness. It is yet to visit Maharashtra.
The terms of the legislative assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra end on November 3 and November 26 respectively.
The term of the Jharkhand assembly ends on January 5 next year.
After a record turnout in the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, CEC Rajiv Kumar had said, “This active participation is a huge positive for assembly elections to be held soon so that the democratic process continues to thrive in the Union Territory.” Whenever assembly elections are held in Jammu and Kashmir, they will be the first since provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution were abrogated and the erstwhile state was divided into two Union Territories in 2019.
Following a delimitation exercise, the number of assembly seats has gone up from 83 to 90, excluding those allocated to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
In a fresh indication that assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir are imminent, the EC had last month asked the Union Territory administration to transfer out officers posted in their home districts, an exercise it holds ahead of conducting elections.
The Commission has been following a consistent policy that officers directly connected with the conduct of elections in a poll-bound state or Union Territory are not posted in their home districts or places where they have served for a considerably long period.
It is usual for the poll panel to issue instructions related to transfers of officers ahead of Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
Recently, it had ordered the updation of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir and three other states.
In June, it decided to accept applications seeking allotment of ‘common symbols’ from registered unrecognised parties in the Union Territory. (Agencies)
