New Delhi:
Selections on timing of elections can solely be made by the Election Fee of India, the fee mentioned at the moment in a hard-hitting assertion after media studies quoting Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor GC Murmu that elections within the union territory will be held after the continued delimitation train. Elections haven’t been held in Jammu and Kashmir within the two years because the elected authorities collapsed, with the ballot physique citing safety considerations.
“It will be correct for authorities apart from Election Fee to chorus from making such statements which just about tantamount to interfering with the Constitutional mandate of the Election Fee,” the fee mentioned.
Many issues must be taken into consideration for holding the elections, together with “topography, climate, sensitivities arising out of regional and native festivities,” the fee mentioned.
Now, the coronavirus outbreak can be one other concern, mentioned the company, which final month introduced measures on postal ballots for individuals above the age of 65 years and withdrew it inside days.
Meeting elections in Bihar and a string of by-elections are anticipated in Madhya Pradesh by the top of this yr.
Jammu and Kashmir has not had an elected authorities since June 2018, when the BJP ended its ruling alliance with Mehbooba Mufti’s Individuals’s Democratic Get together.
There was expectation that the state elections shall be held together with the nationwide elections in April-Might, however the Election Fee had nixed it, citing the safety scenario.
In August final yr, the Centre ended the particular standing of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into two Union Territories. Most political leaders had been taken into custody on the time. The Centre mentioned it was a safety measure in opposition to backlash.
In March, earlier than Prime Minister Narenra Modi introduced the countrywide lockdown in view of coronavirus lots of them had been launched. The record included former Chief Ministers Farooq Andullah and his son Omar Abdullah. Former Chief Minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has been allowed to go dwelling, although formally she remains to be in custody.
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