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| Centre hints at holding state, parliament polls together | | ET report vindicated once again | |  Early Times Report
jammu, Jan 4: Once again report of Early Times carried four months ago over holding of parliament and assembly polls together in Jammu and Kashmir has been vindicated with central government at present mulling to make it a reality this year.
On September 23, last year, Early Times reported that chances are high that the Government of India would plan to have parliament and assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir together with Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies elections acting as a drill for the greater action.
In an interview with the New Delhi based news portal, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik had at that time trashed the speculations that any government will be put in place by defections in the state legislative assembly.
He had added that the government would focus on ensuing that Panchayat polls are held peacefully and successfully in the state. Here, the governor hinted at how these polls will act as a drill for the state assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. "Once these are done peacefully, we will look at fresh elections as soon as possible," Governor was quoted as having said in the interview. He added that the government doesn't want to cobble together a government through any underhand means. "After the ongoing elections, we will start looking at holding fresh elections for the J&K assembly. There is no plan to form a government by engineering defections," he said.
Meanwhile, on January 3, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government is willing to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir along with General Elections which are slated to be held by May. "If Election Commission wants (to hold elections in state along with general elections), our government will have no objection," Singh said replying to a debate on proclamation of imposition of Central rule in the state. He said there would be no obstruction from the Centre for holding elections in the state. We are willing to provide whatever security force Election Commission wants for holding elections there" he said. After 1996, this is the first time the Central rule has been imposed in the militancy-hit state. Rejecting opposition criticism that BJP's "unnatural" alliance with PDP had alleniated population, he reeled out statistics to drive home the development without appeasement agenda of his party.
Governor's rule was imposed in the state on June 19 last year when the BJP withdrew its support from the PDP and toppled the government. There were speculations that the two parties were trying hard to stitch the common ground together and form the government again. Also, there were reports that the rebel group led by the PDP leader Imran Ansari was preparing for a major coup and would form the government in the state.
However, these speculations were put to rest by the Governor when he dissolved the state legislative assembly amid the much political chaos. What remains to be seen at present is whether the election commission will give go ahead with the idea of holding the polls together in the already strike strewn state. |
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