Jammu And Kashmir Polls This Year? Odds Against It, Officials Say
NDTV
The Election Commission has given time till October 31 for the publication of electoral rolls.
The much-awaited assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir - expected to be held by the end of this year - may face a logjam, officials in the Union home ministry indicated after a minister told parliament that the revision of electoral rolls has to be finished first. The reasoning is that the revision of rolls will inevitably be followed by political wrangling and a resolution cannot be expected before the winter sets in. Given the freezing "Chillai Kalan" - 40 days of intense cold - in Kashmir, the elections cannot be held before the thaw next year, officials said.
On Sunday, Union minister Rajnath Singh had given the first indication of a timeline for assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir since it was made a Union Territory in August 2019. There is a "strong possibility" of starting the election process "by this year-end", Mr Singh had said.
Earlier today, junior home minister Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha: "The government constituted a Delimitation Commission, which notified Orders on March 14, 2022 and May 5, 2022, on delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir. Thereafter, the Election Commission has initiated revision of electoral rolls".
The decision to schedule elections is the prerogative of Election Commission, he added.
