4 states to have Assembly polls too, but J&K skipped

Even as Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections, Jammu and Kashmir will not do so for security reasons, Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said on Sunday.

While Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal and Sikkim will go to the polls for all seats in their respectively assemblies as well as the Lok Sabha in the first phase on April 11, Lok Sabha elections in J&K will be held in five phases, but not for Assembly. Following the announcement, Opposition parties reacted sharply, with National Conference vice-president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah leading the charge. He took the battle directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tweeted, "Balakote and Uri are not symbols of PM Modi's handling of national security, J&K is and look at the mess he has made there. The abject surrender to anti-India forces is a crying shame."

Meanwhile, PDP spokesperson Firdous Tak said, "The visit of the EC seems to be just wastage of time, energy and resources. All the political parties had made it clear that they are ready for the elections."