“The election commission should respond to this question (about when the election will be held in J&K). We want to hear it from the election commission,” former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said. “The Chief Election Commissioner said there is a vacuum in J&K and that vacuum needs to be filled. If the CEC realizes that there is a vacuum in Jammu and Kashmir due to the lack of elections, why is he not fulfilling it?”
Omar pointedly asked the Election Commission as to what were its “compulsions” for not holding elections. “Let the ECI show courage and tell why they are not holding the polls,” he said.
On the other hand, the J&K Peoples Conference (JKPC) led by Sajad Lone, has expressed anguish over denial of democracy in the union territory, saying it had been relegated to mere “tokenism”.
“It is with great sorrow that we observe the continuous denial of democracy and statehood in J&K. It is disheartening that amidst a population of 1.4 billion people in our nation, not a single soul outside the state seems visibly perturbed by the denial of democracy and statehood to J&K,” the party said following a meeting in Srinagar.
Memorandum to ECI
On March 6, 2023, a delegation comprising representatives from all political parties, led by Dr. Farooq Abdullah, met with the Election Commission of India, urging it to fulfill its constitutional obligation and hold the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The delegation stressed that any further delay or denial of elections would infringe upon the democratic rights of the people.
The political leaders also submitted a memorandum to the ECI, in which they called for the restoration of the democratic process in the UT. The memorandum also mentioned that union home minister Amit Shah has stated many times that the government is ready to facilitate assembly elections, but final call has to be taken by the Commission.
Significantly, the signatories of the memorandum included Abdullah, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and other senior leaders of national political parties. Other signatories were DMK, TMC, CPIM, RJD, SP and AAP. They have also decided to visit Srinagar in May to assure people of their support. This was the first such attempt by leaders from Jammu and Kashmir to seek support from opposition parties from across the country for the restoration of statehood and democracy in the region. And this initiative followed immediately after Abdullah rallied opposition leaders from Jammu division where they decided to jointly approach the poll panel.
