Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday that assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir can be held “by this year-end.’’ He was addressing the executive council and general body meeting of Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports in Pahalgam in Anantnag.
“The delimitation has been completed in Jammu and Kashmir and there is a possibility to hold elections the year end,’’ he said.
This is the first indication of the timing regarding holding of elections in J&K by the Centre. The statement by the minister comes two days after the Election Commission initiated the revision of electoral rolls and rationalisation of polling booths in the UT in view of the delimitation, which has allotted six additional seats to Jammu and one to Kashmir region. The revision and rationalisation has to be completed before August 31.
The delimitation commission was set up by the Centre in March 2020 under retired high court judge Ranaja Desai.
The commission recommended two seats to Kashmiri Pandits with voting rights. It has also asked the Centre to consider allotting seats to refugees from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir who came to Jammu in 1947.
The commission’s decision has been rejected by the regional parties, the NC and the PDP. They accused the commission of working at the behest of the BJP.
The Centre had linked the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir with the completion of delimitation followed by elections.
Jammu and Kashmir lost its statehood and limited autonomy after Article 370 was revoked by the BJP on August 5, 2019. The former state has been under Central rule since June 2018 after the PDP-BJP coalition collapsed.
The BJP is keen to come to power in Jammu and Kashmir and has taken several steps to drum up support for the party.
Singh , who is on a two-day visit to J&K, interacted with senior Army commanders on Thursday and visited forward positions on the Line of Control (LoC). The Centre has pumped additional 35,000 personnel of the Central Armed Police Force for the security of Amarnath Yatra, being held for the first time since the 2020. The yatra begins on June 30 and will last for 43 days. It is likely that the additional central forces will be retained in Jammu and Kashmir for election duty.
