The Election Commission of India arrived in Srinagar on Thursday to review preparedness for assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, while the representatives of several political parties also reached the SKICC to meet the poll body team.
The most important demand from the leaders of all political parties was that elections should be held in Jammu and Kashmir as soon as possible.
The team led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar arrived here in the morning and met with representatives of registered political parties, including the National Conference (NC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and the Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party (JKPP), at SKICC.
Talking to reporters after party-wise meetings with the poll panel’s delegation, political leaders said they were unanimous in their demand for immediate assembly elections in the Union Territory (UT).
They also demanded that a level playing field in the polls be ensured for the restoration of democracy in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ECI will review preparedness for Assembly polls weeks before the Supreme Court’s September 30 deadline for holding elections in the Union Territory.
Kumar is accompanied by Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S. S. Sandhu.
Earlier in March this year, Kumar, who was then the sole member of the three-member Commission to visit the Union Territory, had assured political parties and the people of Jammu and Kashmir that the poll panel would soon hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit batted for immediate assembly elections. Its leader, Surinder Ambardhar, said, “We told the EC that we want elections to be conducted as soon as possible.”
The party wants the elections to be held within the Supreme Court’s deadline, he said.
NC Kashmir provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani, who led a five-member party delegation, said the NC demanded immediate assembly elections. “Our only demand is that the people of J-K now want to have their own government. We told the EC that you came here many times and we met you, but now there should be some definite decision on it,” he told reporters.
The EC team’s visit will culminate on August 10 at Jammu, where it will hold a review meeting with law enforcement agencies. It will also hold a press conference.