Srinagar: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Friday that the Election Commission was committed to conducting Assembly Elections at the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) at the earliest. He further added that no internal or external forces will be allowed to ‘derail the election’
“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. All political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are batting strongly for holding assembly elections as soon as possible,” news agency PTI quoted him as saying during a press conference in Jammu.
It may be noted that the three-member panel of the Election Commission is currently in Jammu to review the election preparedness of the administration as well as security agencies for elections in the Union Territory. The commission held discussions with UT’s Chief secretary Atal Dulloo and Police DGP RR Swain.
Importantly, it was in 2014 that the last Assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir. While the Assembly was dissolved in 2018, elections were to be held in the former state one year later. In 2019, the Centre abrogated Article 370 and divided the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir into two parts of Uts. The panel visited the UT amid reports of increased terror-related incidents in the region. The elections in UT could not be held due to various reasons since the bifurcation of the then state.