In the midst of the court’s ruling on Article 370, JK gets ready for polls with delimitation and electoral rolls revised

The majority of the preparations have already been completed in order to force through the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which the Supreme Court has scheduled for September 30 of next year. In the crucial state, the Election Commission has finished a number of tasks, including updating the voter list and conducting a delimitation operation.

On January 19, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that all pre-election processes were finished and that the vote dates in Jammu and Kashmir would be declared shortly, taking into account the weather and security considerations. He was speaking during a news conference to announce the polls in Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya.

“The delimitation procedure is finished. The Special Summary Revision (SSR) procedure has finished. Once delimitation is finished, polling station identification, repairs, and reorganization are also finished. The procedure is finished with the appointment of AEROs (assistant electoral registration officers), ROs (returning officers) for the constituencies where the changes have occurred, and ROs. When questioned about the JK polls, Kumar said, “So, we are aware that elections are due and they must be held once the process is complete.”

In response to the Supreme Court’s request, the Solicitor General promised that JK’s former statehood will be restored as quickly as possible. Ladakh, however, would remain a Union Territory in the absence of a legislature.

With polls about to be released, JK will have its first election after the repeal of Article 370 and its conversion to a Union Territory in 2019.

The panel has suggested 90 seats for the delimitation process, comprising 47 seats in the Valley area and 43 seats in Jammu. In Jammu, nine old seats have been deleted and up to 15 new ones have been established. There are now 43 seats overall in Jammu, up from 37 before.