Hold Parliament, Assembly polls simultaneously in J&K: NC, PDP tell CEC

Jammu and Kashmir parties urge Chief Election Commissioner for simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, emphasizing tourism and fairness.

Jammu and Kashmir’s regional parties, the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on March 12 urged Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar to hold Assembly and Lok Sabha elections simultaneously in the union territory.

The demand was made by NC leader Nasir Aslam Wani and PDP’s Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura during Mr. Kumar’s two-day consultations under way with stakeholders in the union territory, in view of coming Lok Sabha elections.

“We brought to the CEC’s notice that there was no clarity about the Assembly elections. It’s the longest, for about 10 years, that elections to the Assembly have not been held in Jammu and Kashmir. At the peak of militancy, elections were held within six years. We stressed on simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, also in view of the upcoming vibrant tourism season. Separate elections would disrupt tourism-related economic activity,” Mr. Wani said.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a proponent of one-country-one-elections and “should start it from Jammu and Kashmir”. “We also underlined the need to maintain fairness, which was missing during the District Development Council (DDC) elections,” Mr. Wani said.

Mr. Hanjura brought to the notice of the CEC about 70,000 service voters in Kashmir and demanded to make the list public. “We suggested simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. If the security situation is conducive for the Lok Sabha elections, there is no point to delay Assembly elections,” Mr. Hanjura said.      

The BJP pitched for measures to increase Pandit voters’ participation in the elections. “We focused on the ease of casting votes to maximise voting percentage. We suggested simplifying M-form for Kashmiri Pandits and stressed on setting up zone-wise polling booths in Jammu and Delhi for the migrant Pandit population,” said BJP leader R.S. Pathania.

On the regional parties’ demand for the simultaneous polls in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP leader said, “Our party firmly believes in establishing democracy through the electoral process. Our party is ready for simultaneous polls if the EC takes a decision.”