Adequate security forces not available for simultaneous elections in Jammu and Kashmir: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar

New Delhi, March 16

Advertisement

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Saturday said the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls will be held after the Lok Sabha elections.

In an interview, CEC Kumar said, “We are yet to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. I mentioned in the press conference earlier today that the way for conducting legal elections has opened since December 23. This is March, and there is snowfall in the region, hence the question of holding elections does not arise at this point.”

“We (ECI) went to Jammu and Kashmir and were asked by all the political parties there to hold the state Assembly elections with the Lok Sabha polls. After that, we held administrative meetings wherein it was discussed that a lot of security forces would be required to conduct state assembly election with Lok Sabha election in J-K,” he said.

“All political parties asked the ECI to conduct an assembly election with Lok Sabha polls, but security agencies advised us that it would not be possible to provide security as there was a need for the deployment of huge security forces. But we are seriously thinking of conducting polls in J-K after the Lok Sabha polls. J-K will be the first state to go in the election after the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.

Kumar further said the ECI will immediately conduct elections in JK within the limited time frame and it is considering “seriously” to conduct the elections after the Lok Sabha polls.

CEC Kumar spoke about the high-level committee examining ‘One Nation, One Election’ and said that the ECI will conduct elections as per the constitutional provisions.

“There is a provision in the Constitution for conducting elections. Article 83(2) of the Constitution states that the House of the People will continue for five years from the date of its first meeting. There is a clause in Section 14 of the Representation of the People Act (RP), 1951, that elections for the Parliament be must held six months before the end of the Assembly. As long as this article is there in the Constitution and there are provisions for the RP Act, our job is to conduct elections according to them,” Kumar said.