CEO and all 20 DCs participated virtually
*Review of SSR activities
Sanjeev Palghar
Jammu, July 5: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has convened a virtual meeting of all 20 Deputy Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir on July 10 to review various issues ahead of the state assembly elections, including the ongoing work on Special Summary Revision (SSR) of the electoral roll, scheduled to be published on August 20.
The meeting, scheduled to be held between 2 pm and 3 pm, will be attended by Chief Election Officer (CEO) PK Pole and senior officials and 20 Deputy Commissioners appointed as District Election Officers (DEOs).
The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections are scheduled by September 30, 2023 as per the Supreme Court’s directions on December 11, 2023.
There are also reports that the Election Commission may visit all the four poll-going states/union territories, including Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
“The Election Commission’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir will be crucial as it will have to consider the security situation as well as the reports of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Union Territory government before deciding to hold the state assembly elections,” the official said.
He said rationalisation/relocation of polling stations in the Union Territory will be considered in the Election Commission meeting. The number of polling stations to be added, moved or renamed will also be taken up.
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The status of updating of control sheets of all constituencies in the district, EPIC with focus on integrity of electoral rolls, removal of discrepancies in rolls, improving image quality and readiness for preparation of consolidated draft roll with reference to the eligibility date, 1 July 2024, will also be addressed in the meeting.
Other issues that are likely to be taken up in the meeting include the status of door-to-door verification by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), including the number of households that need to be verified, the number of households that have been verified and the timeline for completion of the remaining households.
According to the schedule released by the Election Commission, the final electoral roll will be published on August 20, the day after the end of the 52-day annual pilgrimage to Shri Amarnath Ji temple in the South Kashmir Himalayas. The Supreme Court of India had ruled in favour of the abrogation of Article 370 on December 11, 2023, but had directed the Election Commission to hold the state assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024.
The preliminary work will be carried out from June 25 to July 24 and the draft consolidated electoral roll will be published on July 25. Claims and objections can be filed between July 25 and August 9. Claims and objections will be processed on August 19 and the final electoral roll will be published on August 20.
No elections have been held for the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly since Jammu and Kashmir became a union territory on August 5, 2019, abolishing the state’s special status and carving out Ladakh, which was part of the state at the time, as an independent union territory.
Besides the 90 seats for which elections are held, including 47 from Kashmir Division and 43 from Jammu Division, there is provision for nomination of five members to the provincial assemblies, including two women, two Kashmiri migrants (one of whom is a woman) and one refugee from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
Besides this, 24 seats have been reserved for PoJK, which is illegally occupied Pakistan.
Excited by voter turnout in the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the Election Commission would initiate the process of holding state assembly elections in the Union Territory “very soon”.
