EC wants J-K polls on time, Cong not keen

Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy told The Indian Express that the deadline for the formation of a new assembly was January 9, when six months of Central rule in the state would be over. “Our deadline is January 9. We will hold the elections at an appropriate time,” Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy said.

However, the Congress was learnt to be more inclined towards deferring the elections for a few months. Though the party has not made its stand public, the majority held the view that the situation in the state was still too polarised to hold free and fair elections with substantial representation of the people.

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, whose term was to expire in November this year, was dissolved in July following the resignation of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the state brought under President’s rule as violent demonstrations over the transfer of a plot of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board engulfed the state.

On Monday, the Election Commission had held a meeting of all political parties in a bid to arrive at a consensus on the issue. The Commission followed that up with a meeting with officials from the Home Ministry and the Jammu and Kashmir state administration, including Chief Secretary S S Kapoor and DGP Kuldeep Khoda, on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a Home Ministry source on Thursday said it was willing to go along with the Election Commission on whatever dates it decided for holding the polls in Jammu and Kashmir. “We will give our inputs but the decision has to be taken by the Election Commission. We will go along with that,” the source said.