The Election Commission of India (ECI), headed by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, along with Election Commissioners (ECs) Gyanesh Kumar and Dr SS Sandhu commenced a pivotal two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to oversee poll preparations for Assembly Elections in the Union Territory.
The visit underscores the ECI's unwavering commitment to facilitating a seamless and transparent electoral process in the region.
Today, the ECI team engaged in extensive deliberations with a spectrum of stakeholders, including representatives from national and state-recognized political parties to solicit valuable insights and understand their concerns, thereby fostering their active involvement in the electoral process.
Later in the day, the ECI reviewed the poll preparedness with District Election Officers and Superintendents of Police (SPs) to deliberate on administrative and security arrangements crucial to the conduct of elections.
Additionally, an evening session was held with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Special Police Nodal Officer (SPNO), and Central Police Forces (CPMF) Nodal Officer to review coordination efforts among various agencies involved in election management.
On August 9, the visit will culminate with a final meeting with the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police.
The ECI team will then travel to Jammu for review with enforcement agencies culminating in a press conference.
Opposition parties demand Assembly polls before September 30
During their meeting with the team of the Election Commission of India, political parties on Thursday demanded immediate assembly polls in the Union Territory.
The representatives National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), National Panthers Party (Bhim), National Panthers Party (India), and CPI (M) met the high-level team.
All political parties demanded that elections should be held as per the deadline set by the Supreme Court (SC) of India.
Talking to reporters after meeting the ECI team, a delegation of BJP led by former MLA RS Pathania said they have demanded that the election be held within the timeline given by the Supreme Court of India.
"The BJP is in favour of early assembly polls and we have told the team that the assembly polls should be held before the set deadline by the Supreme Court," Pathanai said.
Former Congress MLA Ghulam Nabi Monga, NC's provincial president Kashmir, Nasir Aslam Wani, president of National Panthers Party (Bhim), Vileshan Singh, former minister and leader of National Panthers Party( India) Harsh Dev Singh, PDP leader Asiya Naqash and CPI (M) leader Muhammad Abbas Rather led delegations of their parties respectively.
