Even as politicians are demanding assembly elections to install a popular government in the Union Territory, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered a special summary revision of photo electoral rolls in all the Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in J&K with January 2024 as the qualifying date.
IA notice, in this regard, has been issued by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), J&K, P K Pole on Friday.
The notice issued by the CEO of J&K clearly indicates that the chances of maiden assembly elections in the Union Territory are bleak as the summary revision is a time-consuming exercise. It is now certain that assembly elections will not be held in J&K before the Parliamentary polls.
The second time during the last year the ECI has initiated an exercise of summary revision.
- According to the notice issued on Friday, the timeline for publication of the integrated draft electoral roll is 27-10-2023 while the timeline period for filing claims and objections is 27-10-2023 to 09-12-2023.
- The special campaign dates are 04-11-2023, 05-11-2023, 18-11-2023 and 19-11-2023. The notice further read that the timeline for disposal of claims and objections is 26-12-2023 while as the timeline for final publication of the electoral roll is 05-01-2024.
- The Draft Photo Electoral Rolls-2024 will be available at District Headquarters/Tehsil Offices/Offices of Srinagar and Jammu Municipal Corporations/ Booth Level Officers at Polling Station level and on the website of the Chief Electoral Officer, J&K for the information of all concerned.
- Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (Migrant) in Delhi, Jammu & Udhampur shall receive the claims and objections from the Kashmiri migrants living within their jurisdiction as per the schedule mentioned above.
- All individuals who are 18 years of age or above as of 01-01-2024 can get their names enrolled in the electoral rolls by filing Form No. 6 used for the registration of new electors.
The notice said that Form-7 can be used for objections to proposed inclusion/for deletion of name in the existing electoral roll, Form-8 can be used for multiple purposes like correction of any particulars in the roll, shifting of residence (within or outside constituency), replacement of EPIC, and marking of a person with disability and Form 6B can be used for capturing Aadhaar number of the existing electors.
A special summary revision was earlier completed in November 2022
Earlier the Election Commission of India has completed the exercise of revising the existing electoral rolls on November 25, 2022, by incorporating youngsters who have attained the age of 18 years on October 1, 2022, or earlier in the new voter lists.
The final electoral rolls have a total of 83,59,771 electors, out of which 42,91,687 were male, 184 were the third gender and 40,67,900 were female. The elector population ratio has increased from 0.52 to 0.58 during this Special Summary Review (SSR). The gender ratio of the final electoral roll has increased from 921 to 948.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) had already set a new deadline of November 25, 2022, for the final date for publication of electoral rolls in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Veteran politicians demanding assembly polls before Lok Sabha elections
Senior politicians of Jammu and Kashmir have stepped up their demand for installing a popular government in the Union Territory by conducting assembly elections.
Veteran politician and former Sadr-e-Rasayat of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir Dr. Karan Singh has raised the demand to conduct Assembly elections in the UT.
Singh observed that the connection between the administration and the masses is missing in the Union Territory due to the absence of a popular government.
"In a democratic system like ours, Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) are vital links between the administration and people", he argued and emphasized conducting elections to install a democratic government.
Dr. Karan Singh's demand was supported by the veteran leader and chairman of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) Ghulam Nabi Azad said that there was no reason to delay assembly elections in J&K. He argued that that bureaucratic rule was not an alternative to the popular government.
The last assembly elections in the erstwhile state of J&K were held in November-December 2014 in which BJP emerged as a strong force by winning 25 seats in the 87-member House.
After the BJP dumped the PDP on June 19, 2018, the erstwhile state plunged into political instability. On November 21, 2018, the then Governor Satya Pal Malik had dissolved the assembly, and central rule was imposed in J&K.
