ECI team expected ‘soon’ in J&K

CEO holds APM, majority for simulatenous polls

JAMMU: A team of Election Commission of India (ECI) is expected to visit Jammu and Kashmir in a few weeks from now to review the situation with political leaders and other stakeholders based upon which the commission will decide whether the assembly elections would be held simultaneously with Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

This was informed by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shailendra Kumar on Friday as interacted with the representatives of recognized political parties in the State on various issues related to the electoral process, especially on Special Summary Revision and updation of Electoral Rolls.

The leaders of National Conference, PDP, BJP, Congress and JKNPP who attended meeting were briefed on the preparedness of the authorities for smooth conduct of Parliamentary as well as Assembly Elections by the CEO who held wide ranging discussions with the political leaders and also sought their views on the elections.

On the issue of holding of simultaneous polls and readiness of the State Government, the CEO informed that his office has already taken necessary steps for holding the elections, but decision lies with the Election Commission, who will take a final call at an appropriate time after taking into consideration all the aspects.

He said that a team of Election Commission will visit the State soon to have a review of situation with political leaders and other stakeholders for holding the elections.

“Almost all the political leaders were unanimous to hold simultaneous poll in the State and expressed their readiness for the same,” an official spokesman said.

Earlier, while seeking cooperation from the Political parties to ensure complete transparency in the electoral process, the CEO urged the leaders to make optimal use of the on-line facilities of various services being offered by the Election Commission of India through online portal NVSP http:/ /www.nvsp.in, which can be accessed at a click of button for enrolment as well as verifying/rectifying particulars of an already enrolled voter. He urged them to educate the people through their workers and Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to enroll new voters, delete the names of dead voters and rectification of wrong entries/particulars, the spokesman said.

Speaking about the progress on updation of voters for which the final publication date was January 1, Shailendra said the exercise was launched on September 1, but the date was extended by the Election Commission for the state, along with some other states till January 31.

During this period, as many as 3,07,813 additions, 1,25,834 deletions, 94,565 corrections and 14,989 transpositions were made, the CEO said.

A massive awareness programme will be launched soon to educate the masses about the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT).

The CEO said the Election Commission had allocated 17,000 additional EVMs with VVPAT facilities to the state to be used in the elections.

The CEO said that he will regularly interact with the representatives of the political parties in his office to take their valuable suggestions on further improving the electoral process to ensure fair and transparent elections in the State. He said cooperation of all political parties is mandatory for this essential exercise and his office will ensure close coordination to achieve better results.

The political leaders suggested several measures to improve the electoral process to ensure smooth and transparent elections in the State. They asked for setting up of polling stations as per the convenience of people in the central locations and creation of necessary facilities for the voters. They asked for special arrangements for physically challenged, senior citizens and women at the polling stations.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included, Raman Bhalla and Usman Majeed from Indian National Congress, Harshdev Singh from JKNPP, Nizam-ud-Din Bhat from JKPDP, Yudhveer Sethi and Rajinder Sharma from BJP and Sheikh Bashir Ahmed from National Conference.