| Are assembly polls finally round the corner in JK? | | Omar Abdullah drops hint, readies for pre-poll alliance | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 27: The recent remarks by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah have set the alarm bells ringing in Jammu and Kashmir, hinting that polls will be anytime announced in the erstwhile state.
“This is my personal opinion. If someone asks me, I would suggest PAGD should go together in the polls ahead to keep BJP and its A & B teams away,” Omar told reporters on the sidelines of the youth convention of National Conference at Party headquarters, Nawa-e-Subh in Srinagar as per the reports.
Such a statement is directly linked to the confabulations about the pre-poll alliance in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the elections. This has also given a direct hint that the polls will be held anytime soon with a probability of the elections being conducted by this year-end. “It is very much possible that polls are round the corner. The way Omar Abdullah has floated the idea of the pre-poll alliance, it looks like the polls will be held anytime soon. Such statements aren’t made out of the blue. They have the pattern,” says a senior political functionary of the national conference.
Last month, Home Minister Amit Shah stated that assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held once the delimitation exercise is over and after consultation with political parties. “We have no interest in keeping Jammu and Kashmir under President’s Rule,” Shah said in Lok Sabha while responding to concerns raised by members on Kashmir during the discussion on the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill.
Pertinently, BJP toppled the government in the state and took away support from its coalition partner PDP on June 19, 2018, when leaders of the former congregated in New Delhi and announced the withdrawal of support in a press conference. The state of Jammu and Kashmir came under Governor’s rule the next day- June 20, 2018.
The central government had bifurcated the state into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh in August 2019. Jammu and Kashmir, which is now a Union Territory with a legislative assembly, is under President’s Rule under the J&K Reorganisation Act. “Panchayat elections have been held, without any violence. Zilla panchayat elections are over. Delimitation is on the verge of completion. I would like to say this once again, that once delimitation is completed we will hold elections after consultation with political parties,” Home Minister said when asked about the conduction of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir in parliament last month. |
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