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| Poll season all set to commence | | Work on EVMs may start arriving by Monday | | ET EXCLUSIVE
Jammu | Aug 30
After two months of historical agitation that threw the routine life completely out of gear, the normal course of politics is keenly waiting to bounce back once the agitation is formally called off.
Uncertain of emerging political scheme of things, the politicians of all parties are being seen more eager than anyone else for an early resolution of crises and return of life in the region to the normal. In a fully ripe election season when it was time to go back to the people to sell new promises to electorate, the agitation broke out flattening the political balloon midway.
All political leaders, cutting across party affiliations, of late rallied around the agitation spearheaded by Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti apparently with a view that this may lead to an early resolution of the issue. Local leaders in the Congress like Raman Bhalla even joined the SAYSS’s Jail Bharo Andolan. The veteran Mangat Ram Sharma even once becoming target of the ire of agitators echoes the SAYSS demands and also fumbled around the demand of land restoration.
Since Congress is the party blamed for taking the land revocation decision, the local party leaders shunned all considerations to support the agitation. This was apparently influences by two factors: escaping the public wrath and saving face so as to find a way for reaching out the public again.
After two months of agitation when victory seems in favour of Jammu, the Election Commission is also gearing up for the poll preparation. The Election Commission of India says the logistics for the next Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be in place “very soon”. With the easing of situation in Jammu, the EC hopes that engineers of the Bharat Electronics (one of the companies responsible for the upkeep of the EVMs) will begin work in Jammu on Monday.
The state EC officials in Srinagar will soon place orders for “rubber stamps” used in polling stations. The authorities hope to get supplies by September 15. The state voters’ list, too, is ready, and an exercise is on to “tally” the Hindi list with the one in the “mother language —Urdu”.
With the state having some 65 lakh voters, it was decided that at least one member in every family must have the voter I-card. The EC has achieved much beyond the target — while 20 lakh voters (of the total 28 lakh) in the Valley have got their ID cards, the corresponding figure in the Jammu region is 7 lakh (out of the total 19 lakh voters).
“Whether it’s the voters’ list, the EVMs or the voter I-cards, we have ensured that everything is in place by the middle of the next month,” said J&K Chief Electoral Officer B R Sharma.
The EC will take a call on the election date, for which a full-fledged team from the Commission will visit the state soon. |
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