Jammu, Aug 06: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will hold meetings with various political parties in Jammu and Kashmir from August 8-10 to discuss and gather feedback on the upcoming Assembly elections. This visit comes in advance of the Supreme Court’s September 30 deadline for holding elections in the Union Territory.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, accompanied by Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S. S. Sandhu, will oversee the review of preparedness for the Assembly polls. The ECI’s visit includes discussions with major political parties, including the BJP, Congress, and CPI(M), led by MY Tarigami.
The BJP delegation, led by Chief Spokesperson Sunil Sethi, former MLA RS Pathania, will meet with the ECI in Srinagar on August 8. Congress Chief Spokesperson Ravinder Sharma confirmed the party’s participation in the meetings.
The office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Jammu and Kashmir, has issued invitations to various political parties with assigned time slots for the meetings. The ECI will also assess the situation with the Chief Electoral Officer, central forces coordinator, election officers, police superintendents, Chief Secretary, and Director General of Police.
On August 10, the commission will visit Jammu for a review meeting with enforcement agencies and hold a press conference to brief the media on the review process.
This will be the first Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and the reorganization of the former state into two Union Territories. The number of Assembly seats has increased from 83 to 90 following a delimitation exercise, excluding those allocated to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The ECI has also requested the Union Territory administration to transfer officers posted in their home districts, a standard procedure ahead of elections. In June, the commission began accepting applications for ‘common symbols’ from registered unrecognized parties in preparation for the polls.
