Election Commission to take call on Jammu-Kashmir assembly polls next month

The Election Commission will take a call on holding Assembly elections in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir after it receives the report of the state Chief Electoral Officer in mid-October. The term of the 87-member state Assembly ends on January 19 next year.

"We expect the CEO to submit his report around October 15. After getting the report, the EC will take a call on the timing of the election," highly placed Commission functionaries told PTI today.

One of the main concerns of the poll body is the condition of the polling stations and the road connectivity. Another area of concern for the poll body is the revision of electoral rolls which was taking place before the floods hit the state.

The revision was expected to be over by the first week of October. "But it has now been delayed," they said. The cut-off date for eligibility in Jammu and Kashmir is October one, 2014. The electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir have a special provision for four cut-off dates for revision --January one, April one, July one and October one.

The full Commission — the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners — could visit the state soon and take inputs from Union Ministry of Home Affairs. "We are watching the situation very closely. After things come to some shape, we will find out (and) depending upon the situation, a decision will be taken," Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath had said recently on holding polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

With thousands of people displaced and road and communication lines taking a hit, it will be an uphill task for the poll body to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Flood triggered by heavy rain in Jammu and Kashmir has claimed scores of lives and left thousands homeless. It has also caused extensive damage to road, rail and telecommunication infrastructure in the state.