Election Commission is aware of political vacuum in J-K that needs to be filled soon: CEC Kumar

New Delhi, March 29

Noting that the poll panel is aware of prevailing political “vacuum” in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and that needs to be filled as early as possible, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar today said that the fresh revision of electoral rolls in the Union Territory (UT) does not disturb schedule or conduct part of polls.

Responding to a question on the fresh special summary revision of electoral rolls in J&K at a press conference here, the CEC said that in the UT the special summary revision took place taking October 1 as the qualifying date, whereas in the rest of the country, January 1 is the qualifying or cut-off date.

“We went for October 1 as the qualifying date there (J&K) as we wanted to complete the process as fast as possible. This process (fresh special summary revision) is to bring J&K at par as far as the voters’ list is concerned,” Kumar said.

“But nonetheless, it does not disturb the scheduled part, the conduct part that depends on various other factors, for which we will come back to you. We are aware that there is a vacuum that needs to be filled,” he said.

A few days ago, the poll panel had ordered a fresh special summary revision of the electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir. While April 1 has been set as the qualifying date for the summary revision, May 10 is the date for publication of the final electoral rolls.

Following a recent amendment in the election law based on the recommendation of the poll panel, there are four qualifying dates or cut-off dates – January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 – for enrolling as voters. Earlier, January 1 was the only cut-off date.

Recently, Kumar had said that assembly polls in J&K will be held keeping in mind various factors, including weather and security concerns. He had noted that the delimitation process in the UT was completed and returning officers and additional electoral registration officers had also been appointed in the rearranged and new constituencies.