The Election Commission has announced to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Voting will be held in three phases for 90 seats here. The last assembly elections were held here in 2014. But on 5 August 2019, the Modi government abolished the effect of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, this is the first assembly election after that. National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah is asking the question that when terrorists are raising their heads again, what is the reason for holding elections at this time? The answer has been given by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar himself. But behind this is also the order of Supreme Court Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, in which he had directed to conduct elections by September 2024.
1. While giving the verdict on Article 370, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had said, Article 370 of the Constitution was a temporary provision and the President has the power to repeal it. We direct that the state status of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir be restored as soon as possible. The Election Commission should take steps to conduct the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections by September 30, 2024. This is the big reason behind the decision of the Election Commission.
2. The Chief Election Commissioner also gave some more reasons for holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir now. He said, there has been tremendous enthusiasm in Jammu and Kashmir regarding the elections. People came out in large numbers to vote in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. People voted peacefully without any violence and celebrated the festival of elections. During this time we also made many records. The glimpse of hope and democracy in the Lok Sabha elections was telling that the ballot won over the bullet. Let us tell you that 58.46 percent of the voters in Jammu and Kashmir exercised their franchise while 71.82 percent votes were cast in Ladakh. Whereas in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, only 45 percent votes were cast in Jammu and Kashmir.
3. The Chief Election Commissioner said, when we went to Jammu and Kashmir to review the election preparations, the people’s desire for democracy was clearly visible. People seemed eager to elect their representatives. We have visited there many times, people there seem very happy and confident about the elections. In the Lok Sabha elections too, the number of candidates contesting the elections had increased by 25 percent compared to the last Lok Sabha elections. The reason for this was also the same desire.
4. The Chief Election Commissioner also answered the questions raised about the security of candidates and voters. He said, some parties in Jammu and Kashmir had requested that their candidates and party officials should all get equal security. It should not happen that someone gets less security and someone gets more. We have given guidelines regarding this that all candidates will get security.
5. It is true that terrorist incidents have increased in Jammu and Kashmir in the last few days, but the security forces have killed many terrorists. Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai recently told the Lok Sabha that till July this year, 14 soldiers and 14 civilians were killed in terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir Police is going to establish 19 special counter terror units for eight out of 10 districts of Jammu division, which will crack down on terrorists.
6. According to the Election Commission report, people were quite active in the Lok Sabha elections held last year in Jammu and Kashmir. On the Election Commission’s app C Vigil, common voters lodged a large number of complaints of violation of the code of conduct and violation of electoral decorum. This is enough to tell how eager people are to participate in electoral democracy.
Tags: DY Chandrachud, Jammu Kashmir election 2024, Supreme Court
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 16, 2024, 16:38 IST
