BJP, others urge ECI to hold J&K, LS polls together
Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir met the visiting delegation of the Election Commission of India in Srinagar on Tuesday and urged it to hold assembly elections concurrently with the Lok Sabha elections.
The ECI team, led by chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar, arrived in Srinagar on a three-day visit and held interactions with parties, including National Conference, People's Democratic Party, Congress, BJP and CPI (M). The Panthers Party delegation, led by Harsh Dev Singh, was not allowed to meet the ECI team. The party protested outside the meeting venue in Srinagar, alleging «BJP-ECI nexus» is ruining the democratic institution.
Leaders of other parties said the ECI delegation heard their suggestions with passion and its attitude seemed to be «considerate».
«People here haven't got a chance to elect their own government for around a decade now. We suggested that assembly elections should be conducted with the Lok Sabha elections. If the prime minister wants to implement 'One Nation One Election', let it start from J&K,» said Nasir Aslam Wani, former minister and senior National Conference leader. He also said conducting two elections separately will disrupt economic activity, especially tourism, in J&K.
The last assembly election in J&K was held in 2014, when PDP-BJP coalition formed the government. The government fell in June 2018, when BJP pulled out of the alliance. Since then J&K has been without an elected government. After abrogation of special status and downgrading of J&K into the two Union
