May 01, 2019:

On Tuesday, the Election Commission (EC) will seek opinion of “an eminent legal expert” before deciding the schedule for Assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir.

The Commission, in a meeting held Tuesday, also decided to seek some clarification from the Ministry of Home Affairs. EC officials were tight-lipped about the issues on which the ministry’s clarification will be sought.

Tuesday’s meeting took place less than a week after Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioners Ashok Lavasa met with MHA officials, J&K Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam, Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra, DGP Dilbagh Singh and Chief Electoral Officer Shailendra Kumar to explore possibilities of conducting Assembly elections in the state.

The State Administration on April 26 is learnt to have told the Election Commissioners that it is in favour of holding elections in November, like in 2014 and 2008, so that even the nomadic Gujjars and Bakerwals can cast their vote.

By then, they would have reached the plains as part of their seasonal migration from higher reaches. The last two assembly elections in the state were held in phases during Nov-Dec.

The state administration is also keen to hold Assembly elections in November as the holy month of Ramzan falls in May followed by Eid in the first week of June.

Only a week after Eid, security forces are to be deployed for the safe and smooth conduct of 46-day long annual Amarnath pilgrimage beginning July 1, said sources.

However, the three special observers, tasked with assessing the situation on ground, are learnt to have suggested, in their report submitted to EC on April 15, three different windows for holding Assembly elections, including one right after Lok Sabha polls.

On March 10, when the EC announced the schedule for Lok Sabha elections, the Commission had said that it decided against holding state polls in J&K simultaneously owing to the law-and-order concerns in wake of the Pulwama terror attack.

The state has been under President rule since Dec 19.

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