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| CEC team visiting today | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Oct 6: To make a final ground assessment of the situation for holding impending assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Election Commissioner of India N Gopalaswami is visiting Srinagar tomorrow.
Sources said that the CEC will hold a meeting with the Governor NN Vohra, besides top officers of Civil Administration, Police and Paramilitary forces to get an idea of the ground situation and preparedness of the state’s machinery for assembly elections.
The Election Commission of India, it may be mentioned here, has already had wide consultations with the political parties and the government functionaries in gathering views on the ground situation. Tomorrow’s meeting is crucial as this is likely to be the last consultative process on holding elections next month or putting them off for few months.
In case of an affirmative response from the state administration, which is much expected, the Election Commission of India may announce election schedule in the middle of this month in a manner that elected government is in place by mid of December.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami and the other two Election Commissioner Navin Chawla and S Y Quraishi would review the situation at a meeting with senior civil and police officials during their two-day visit to the state.
The term of the Assembly, which was dissolved following the break-up of the Congress-PDP coalition in the wake of the Amarnath land transfer row, ends on November 20.But since the state was placed under Governor's rule, the elections have to be held before January ten.
With prolonged unrest in Kashmir valley and in Jammu region over the Amarnath row, the Commission was keeping a close watch on the situation particularly whether it was feasible to hold the elections on time.
The Commission had earlier elicited the views of various political parties and discussed the security scenario with Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta.
The National Conference and PDP, two of the key players in the state's political scenario, are not in favour of Assembly polls in November saying the situation was not conducive for the exercise. The BJP and the Left, however, wanted immediate elections while Congress left it to EC to take a call. |
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