Srinagar: Most of the regional political parties on Tuesday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold the Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
The ECI team headed by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar held discussions with representatives of political parties in Srinagar on the second day of his visit to the Union Territory.
Kumar along with nine other top officials of the Commission reached Srinagar on Monday evening and was received by Chief Electoral Officer J&K . The ECI team panel will visit Jammu on Wednesday and hold deliberations with the officials.
In Srinagar, apart from meeting the political party delegations, the CEC held meetings with top civil and police officials and reviewed the preparation for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in J&K.
National Conference (NC) leader Nasir Aslam Wani, who led the party delegation said he urged CEC to hold the Assembly election along with the Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir.
“We put our issues before the CEC including that it has been now 10 years since the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been deprived of the democratic right. We told Rajiv Kumar that people are eager to see an elected government in Jammu and Kashmir,” Wani told reporters.
The NC delegation told the CEC that holding two elections in a year will hurt the tourism industry in J&K.
“Tourism is a vibrant sector of our economy and is flourishing now. If you hold two elections within the year separately it will hurt the tourism sector,” Wani said.
The NC leader said they told the CEC that the Prime Minister keeps talking about one nation, one election and why not start it with Jammu and Kashmir.
“We are hopeful that they will rationally listen to our demands, ‘ he said.
Wani said that after looking at the body language and the response, it looks like the CEC will rationally and passionately listen to their demands.
The People’s Democratic Party delegation led by Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura met the CEC and pleaded for the holding of the Assembly election.
“We raised the issue of conducting an Assembly election with the forthcoming Lok Sabha election. We told the CEC if the security situation in the valley is alright, what’s stopping them from holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections together in the Valley?,” he said, adding that the CEC promised to look into that demand.
The PDP leader said it is now in the hands of CEC what decision he will take about the Assembly election in J&K.
The BJP leaders also met the Poll panel in Srinagar, to emphasise party’s preparedness for the forthcoming Assembly, Lok Sabha, and Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
A senior leader of the Panthers Party alleged that he was denied a meeting with the visiting ECI team.
“Our party was invited by the ECI for a meeting but we were not allowed inside,” the party President Harshdev Singh told reporters here.
