Srinagar: As Jammu and Kashmir continues to be under direct central rule for the past five years, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has come under sharp criticism from J&K’s major political forces over the “unprecedented delay” in restoration of an assembly in the union territory. Major decisions affecting 1.3 crore people, directly or indirectly, are instead being taken by the Lieutenant Governor and bureaucrats.
The poll body has faced fresh brickbats after chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday (October 9) said that a decision on the J&K polls would be announced at the “right time” after taking into consideration the security situation and other polls due in the UT.
ECI faces criticism
In what was seen as a repetition of his two earlier statements on conducting polls in J&K, the CEC on Monday said that the ECI will take a decision on the polls at the “right time” as per the security situation and other simultaneous elections due in the state.
The CEC’s statement has come under widespread criticism from political parties in Jammu & Kashmir. Former chief minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah asked the chief election commissioner to tell the people of J&K why they are being denied of their democratic rights. “I want to ask him (CEC) what are the factors (for not holding elections)? We feel that there is only one factor and that is the fear factor for BJP. BJP was earlier hiding behind Raj Bhavan and now they are hiding behind the ECI,” Omar said during a news conference in Srinagar.
He said the ECI, instead of taking its decisions independently, is working on directives from the BJP. “Has the situation worsened so much that you (ECI) cannot hold polls? If the situation has deteriorated to that extent then tell us. Till now the entire world has been told that the situation has improved considerably after August 5, 2019,” Omar said.
The main opposition parties in J&K, including the National Conference, Congress and PDP, on Tuesday staged a joint sit-in at Jammu for the restoration of democratic rights in the union territory. The parties had announced the protest programme on October 3 during an all-party meeting chaired by NC president Farooq Abdullah to discuss the current political situation in J&K.
Senior NC leader and MP from Anantnag, Justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi said the ECI has failed to perform its constitutional obligation of reviving democratic processes in J&K.
“In a democracy, everything hinges on elections but no elections have taken places here for so many years,” he told The Wire.
He said the poll body has no reason to delay the elections when the Union government itself claims that the security situation has improved in J&K.
Senior PDP leader and former minister Naeem Akther said the ECI has now become a “compromised” institution like other government agencies and departments. “We have seen in the past that they have kept considerations of the BJP in mind rather than the constitutional requirements,” he told The Wire.
Akther said the BJP is scared to hold elections in J&K. “The BJP does experiments only to get results of its choice. Half of the work was done by the party through delimitation but even that work is now slipping out of its hands,” he said.
He said the BJP is scared to hold local body polls in J&K as “an adverse outcome in Jammu Municipal Corporation would have a fallout on the party’s electoral prospects in other elections”.
“Jammu is considered as a bellwether for North India. It (an adverse outcome for the BJP) will send a message to the entire India that sentiment is against the BJP. It will also impact the other states that are going to polls. The debacle would also be a resounding defeat of their propaganda on abrogation of Article 370,” he said.
The delay in polls has also raised questions from different non-political quarters.
Radha Kumar, a former interlocutor on Kashmir, told The Wire that the ECI’s credibility has come into question over the inordinate delay in holding the assembly elections .“It is very sad to say that all their actions from delimitation commission to now, indicate that it has no credibility,” she said.
Kumar, who was appointed by the Government of India to hold talks with different shades of opinion in J&K after the 2010 unrest, said that the delay in polls was “appalling” and “incomprehensible”. “The government says that they have a control over violence and J&K is doing economically well, but then why they are not holding the elections?” she said.
CEC’s three statements
This was the third time in 2023 when chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that elections would be held in J&K after taking into considerations different factors.
On January 18, 2023, Kumar said that elections in J&K will be held after taking weather, security concerns and schedule of elections in other states into account.
Later, on March 28, 2023, the poll body chief said that the commission is aware that there is “vacuum” in Jammu & Kashmir which needs to be filled.
He had also said the fresh revision of electoral rolls does not disturb schedule or conduct part of polls.
“…it does not disturb the scheduled part, the conduct part that depends on various other factors which we will come back to you. We are aware that there is a vacuum that needs to be filled,” he had said.
However, the poll body has not made any suo motu statement on holding polls in Jammu & Kashmir after 2019. All the three statements made this year were in response to questions posed by journalists during news conferences.
As of now, the assembly elections in J&K seem nowhere in sight, even as the delimitation process was over on May 5, 2022 and two revisions of electoral rolls have been undertaken by the poll body. The third revision of electoral rolls is currently underway.
Last month, the Union government told the Supreme Court that assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir would be held after panchayat and municipal poll. As already reported by The Wire, municipal and panchayat polls are unlikely to be held before 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
ECI’s stance before reading down of Article 370
The J&K assembly was dissolved on November 21, 2018 by then Governor Satya Pal Malik after Mehbooba Mufti staked claim for formation of government.
On March 10, 2019, the ECI announced that assembly elections in J&K cannot be held along with Lok Sabha polls due to security concerns, even as major political parties had pushed for simultaneous polls during the poll body’s visit to the then state.
“The Commission will be regularly and on real time basis monitoring the situation in J & K and will also be taking inputs from all necessary quarters and decision regarding holding Legislative Assembly elections in J & K will be taken soon,” the ECI had said.
The poll body then appointed three special observers to determine when assembly elections can be held in Jammu & Kashmir.
After meeting different stakeholders, the observers submitted their report to the ECI on April 15, 2019. In their report, they had reportedly suggested to the poll panel that the situation is conducive for elections immediately after the Lok Sabha polls.
However, on June 4, 2019, the poll body, in a handout, said that holding polls should be considered later in the year. “Election Commission, under Article 324 of the Constitution and other extant laws/rules etc. have unanimously decided that holding of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir shall be considered later in this year. The Commission will keep on regularly and on real time basis monitoring the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, taking inputs from all necessary quarters and after the conclusion of Amarnath Yatra will announce the election schedule for the conduct of assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir,” the ECI had said.
Umer Maqbool is a Kashmir-based independent journalist writing on politics, governance and legal issues.
