Assembly polls in J&K likely to get delayed

Srinagar: National Conference leader Omar Abdullah is eager to have Assembly elections as soon as possible in Jammu and Kashmir, as the party wants to pull the anti-Mehbooba Mufti votes in its favour. On Friday, Omar Abdullah took to Twitter and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk about early elections in Jammu and Kashmir instead of IPL. He said that Narendra Modi’s government is the first Central government since 1996 that is failing to hold Assembly elections on time. The growing anger among the mainstream parties in the state stems from the fact that the Election Commission (EC) is yet to take a final call for holding polls in the state, as the EC has asked for feedback from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to take the final decision. Official sources confirmed that the Governor’s administration in the latest meeting with the EC confirmed that the present situation is not conducive for elections. They suggested that polls should be conducted in October-November. A senior official said that the state administration has a ground-level report that summer months should be avoided for holding polls, as there is the Amarnath Yatra, tourist traffic and the movement of Gujjar and Bakerwals from their respective places. “This is the first time that for the single parliamentary segment of Anantnag, we have conducted polls in three phases. It speaks volumes about the ground situation,” the official said.

According to reports, state chief secretary has said there are security concerns and has recommended delaying polls till November.