Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along with his team on Friday, completed his two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to review assembly polls preparedness, assuring that they have the Supreme Court-directed deadline in mind and are ready to hold elections soon.
Speaking to the media in Jammu after the review, Kumar also assured that while security challenges, including terror attacks, may exist, they will not impact elections.
“These cannot be the basis of delaying polls (in J&K). The administration should be able to deal with any such situations and it is capable of that… These things will not have an impact on the elections at all. Our forces and entire administration are capable enough to deal with any situation that comes in the way. The flag of Jamhooriyat will continue,” he assured.
As per an order from the Supreme Court, the ECI has to complete elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30. However, the elections cannot be held due to security concerns in the Union Territory before August 19 due to the annual Amarnath Yatra which is scheduled between June 29 and August 19.
“The time is right (for polls). We will keep the deadline in mind. Those who are yet to enroll, they can still do that…We are confident, after our review and also in our resolve, that such activities, whatever may be the design of that activity, cannot be allowed to happen,” he said, assuring that “nothing can be allowed to disrupt the elections (in J&K)”.
The CEC, on being asked if the other states that will have polls this year will see elections along with J&K, said that different states have different dates for completion of terms and hence the decisions will be taken accordingly.
“As far as J&K polls are concerned, our review has been completed and the Yatra will also end on the 19th (of August)… We will go back to Delhi and calculate the security assessment and force deployment and will announce the polls accordingly,” Kumar said.
He went on to say that all political parties want elections to be held in the UT as soon as possible. He also assured that state government officials are ready to hold the elections. “They have assured that there is nothing to delay the polls,” he said.
Kumar said that they have a positive challenge before them too — huge participation from candidates and the voters. “This is a positive challenge that we accept with all happiness. Everyone has been directed to encourage and prepare for mass participation,” he said.
It is important to note that the last elections in the erstwhile state took place in November-December 2014. In November 2018, the assembly was dissolved, and in 2019 the process of splitting the state into two UTs, J&K and Ladakh, started. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls in the UT, the voter turnout was huge.
Over 87 lakh electors, 11,838 polling stations
The CEC also shared that as per the draft roll published in July 2024, the total electors in Jammu & Kashmir stand at 87.09 lakh, including 44.46 lakh male and 42.62 lakh females. The UT has 169 transgenders and 73,943 very senior citizens. At least 2,660 voters are above the age of 100 years while 3.71 lakh are first-time voters.
Further, the UT will have 11,838 polling stations with an average of 735 voters per centre.
The Union Territory has 90 assembly seats — 74 are for general category, 7 for SC category and nine for the ST category.
For Kashmiri migrants, the ECI has scrapped the requirement of Form M and will set up 26 special polling stations in Delhi, Jammu and Udhampur.
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