ECI to meet Union Home Secretary to review J&K security today

New Delhi, Aug 13: The Election Commission will meet with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, sources have said.

In December last year, the Supreme Court directed the central government to conclude the election process in the Union territory by September 30, 2024.

If it happens before September, Jammu and Kashmir will witness elections after a gap of ten years as the last assembly election was held in 2014. The PDP-BJP coalition government fell in June 2018 when the latter withdrew support to the then-chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.

Recently, a poll body delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reviewed the poll preparations in J&K. During a press conference in Jammu during the visit, Kumar had emphasised that the commission is committed to holding elections there "at the earliest".

No outside or internal forces can derail the electoral process, he had said, adding that the people of J&K will give a befitting response to "disruptive forces."

CEC had further said that all parties in Jammu and Kashmir are "batting strongly" for holding assembly elections.

During the visit, the poll body officials met national and recognized parties there.

"All of them praised the public and Election Commission for the successful Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir. They all said it was a historic achievement, it had good participation, and no incident (of violence) took place which has boosted people's confidence. All the parties demanded that the Assembly polls be held at the earliest. All the parties demanded that there be public-elected representatives in J&K, who have a better connection with locals. More or less all the political parties, except one or two, also wanted that a level playing field be established," he said.

Rajiv Kumar further said that everyone's perception was that everyone should get equal security.

"They had another demand. There was a review of the security of political functionaries in the state in which the security of some of them was downgraded, some did not get it and the security of some was upgraded. Their perception was that everyone should get equal security so that they can get involved in political activities without any fear, irrespective of the party they are from," he said.

There are a total of 90 assembly constituencies, of which 74 are General, nine are reserved for ST and seven are SC.

In Jammu and Kashmir, there are 87.09 lakh total electors. Of which 44.46 lakh are male, 42.62 female, 169 are Transgender, 82,590 persons with disabilities, 73943 very senior citizens, 2660 centenarians, 76092 service electors, and 3.71 lakh are first-time voters.