Election Commission has exclusive right to decide schedule for Assembly polls in J&K: LG Manoj Sinha

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday said the Election Commission has the exclusive right to decide the schedule for Assembly elections in the Union Territory.

However, he expressed hope that the democratic exercise would be conducted soon in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under the central government rule for over six years after the fall of the PDP-BJP government in 2018.

Talking to reporters after inaugurating the newly constructed building of the Malaviya Mission Teachers Training Centre at the University of Jammu, LG Sinha also referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks during his visit to Srinagar in June that the Assembly elections will be held soon and the statement of Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament on August 5, 2019 that delimitation will be followed by Assembly polls and then statehood at an appropriate time.

“It is happening in the same sequence… I hope the Assembly elections will take place soon,” Sinha said.

He also referred to the recent two-day visit of the Election Commission's full team to Jammu and Kashmir and their meetings with political parties, administration officials and other stakeholders before returning to Delhi.

“What will be the date of (Assembly) elections is the exclusive right of the ECI (Election Commission of India),” he said.

Talking to reporters in Jammu at the end of the two-day visit on Friday, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the EC has already completed a review in Jammu and Kashmir, and with the Amarnath Yatra concluding on August 19, security requirements will be assessed in Delhi before announcing the election dates.

The visit of the Election Commission was the first major exercise for preparing the grounds for holding the maiden Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5, 2019.

The visit of the three-member EC team led by Kumar comes ahead of the September 30 deadline given by the Supreme Court for the completion of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.