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| NC, PDP no more akin to polls; want early holding of LS, assembly elections | | | Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 4: Not long ago the regional mainstream parties of the state boycotted the civic and Panchayat polls saying that the situation is not conducive for holding of the polls. However, these parties are now in a moon to fight the assembly polls in the state.
This became clear today as the leaders of parties like National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called on a team of Election Commission of India (ECI) here. The mainstream leaders pitched for simultaneous holding of the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections.
The situation has not improved in the Kashmir valley since the holding of municipal and Panchayat elections and as such the demand from the mainstream parties who opposed the elections to hold the elections this time around is somewhat baffling.
"The mainstream parties have no principle whatsoever and they change their stance according to their own wishes and whims as and when the situation demands. These people have ditched the masses in the past and they continue to do so even today for the lust of power," said sources.
Sources said that mainstream parties like NC and PDP have no locus standii to demand for early holding of assembly elections in the state. They said that leaders of these parties shed crocodile tears in order to ensure that their political lust is fulfilled.
It would be in place to mention here that a high-level delegation of ECI led by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Sunil Arora arrived here today on a two day visit to Jamm & Kashmir for consultations with various political parties, state administration and other stakeholders ahead of upcoming election-2019.
The ECI team began its visit by meeting the representatives of various political parties in Kashmir valley to seek their opinion regarding the elections. Election Commissioners, Sushil Chandra and Ashok Lavasa, Deputy Election Commiss-ioner, Sandeep Saxena, Director General ECI, Dilip Kumar, ADG Sheyphali Sharan, Director Nikhil Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer J&K, Shailendra Kumar were present during the meeting.
All the mainstream parties pitched for holding of parliamentary and assembly elections at once and said that the problems of people can be solved only by an elected government of Jammu & Kashmir. The demand in this regard by NC and PDP seems to be baffling as they opposed the electoral process in the recent past.
An official spokesman said that the CEC gave a patient hearing to their concerns and assured that they will be taken care of in due process of time. The ECI team also held a marathon meeting with the civil and police including Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan, ADGP, Law & Order, Muneer Ahmad Khan, IGP Kashmir, S P Pani, Deputy Commissioners and District Police Chiefs of Kashmir and Ladakh divisions.
"Elections are soon going to be held to uphold the principles of democracy. The commission desires that these elections should be the most inclusive with absolute neutrality by people involved in organizing them. Holding election in any part of India is a challenge because of various factors such as topography, population density, holidays, etc," Arora said in his opening remarks.
The ECI team reviewed the state of preparedness of various departments of civil and police administration for ensuring free and fair elections. The Commission asked the state authorities to provide minimum assured facilities at polling stations and ensure that voters are able to reach the stations without any fear or hindrance.
The CEC also reviewed the preparedness in terms of transportation of EVMs and polling material to the booths and deployment of staff on the day of the election. The Commission asked the state authorities to mobilize people and create inducement-free and intimidation-free atmosphere by ensuring sufficient number of security persons on ground.
The Commission stressed the state authorities to ensure that the expenditure by candidates during the election process is monitored to prevent any illegality. "The limit of expenditure is Rs 70 lakh for Lok Sabha election and Rs 28 lakh for state assembly election," Deputy Election Commissioner, Sandeep Saxena said, adding that action should be taken against those indulging in inducement and illegal gratification to voters.
The Commission asked the state administration to conduct operations on EVMs and VVPATs in presence of stakeholders such as political parties and candidates to ensure transparency. "You should share location of strong-rooms with stakeholders/parties/candidates to prevent any suspicion." Saxena said.
The ECI team left for Jammu this evening where they will be conducting similar exercise tomorrow. In addition, the ECI team will be also meeting the Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam and DGP Dilbag Singh separately in the winter capital. Before winding up their visit the ECI team is scheduled to address a press conference at Jammu tomorrow evening. |
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