The exercise of revising the existing electoral rolls, by incorporating youngsters who have attained the age of 18 years on October 1 or earlier in the new voter lists, is likely to be completed on November 25.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has already set a new deadline of November 25 for the final date for publication of electoral rolls in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
To provide an opportunity to youngsters attaining the age of 18 years on October 1 or earlier the deadline was extended from October 31 to November 25.
The completion of the exercise will pave the way for holding elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This would be the first election in the UT after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of J&K into two Union Territories by the BJP-led NDA government in August 2019.
Earlier, the poll panel had given a timeline of October 31 for the publication of the finalized electoral rolls in J&K, where the special summary revision is being undertaken after a gap of three years and the first such exercise after the boundaries of Assembly seats were redrawn in the delimitation exercise.
According to the rescheduled timeline issued by the Election Commission, an integrated draft electoral roll will be published on September 15. The period for filing claims and objections has been set between September 15 to October 25 followed by the disposal of claims and objections on November 10.
After the completion of the exercise of the Delimitation Commission in May this year, the Election Commission of India has started the process of revising existing electoral rolls in the J&K before the announcement of the assembly elections.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had assured that the assembly elections will take place in Jammu and Kashmir after the completion of the ongoing revision of electoral rolls.
Delimitation Commission already submitted its report
The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission had submitted its final report to the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 5.
The panel, mandated to redraw the boundaries of assembly and parliamentary constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir, has reserved seven assembly seats for Scheduled Tribes. As per the report of the panel, out of the total 90 assembly seats in the Union Territory, 43 will be part of the Jammu region and 47 from the Kashmir Valley.
The Commission has also recommended additional seats for Kashmiri Pandits and displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
The Central Government had issued a notification stating that the orders of the Delimitation Commission which redrew electoral constituencies and provided six additional Assembly seats to the Jammu division and one to Kashmir would come into effect from May 20.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had assured that the assembly elections will take place in Jammu and Kashmir after the completion of the ongoing revision of electoral rolls.
However, political observers are of the opinion that the much-awaited polls are likely to be deferred to next year after the end of the harsh winter in the Kashmir Valley and some parts of Jammu province also.
