There was no missing the point when Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar pledged on behalf of the Election Commission that time is ripe for Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir but the exact schedule was subject to overall security review with security agencies in Delhi and availability of the security forces. It was a misnomer that the Election Commission was on a visit to J&K to declare dates for the polls; it was actually to understand and assess the preparedness of all the stakeholders, primarily the political parties and the Union Territory administration.
This was a twin-edged purpose; to make an on-the- spot assessment of the prevalent atmosphere in the Union Territory whether it is still bubbling with the same enthusiasm as on the eve of Lok Sabha elections when the CEC had visited J&K, or there were new concerns; secondly, it was related to the political parties’ yearning and capability to take plunge in elections and alongside inputs about the security situation.
Political parties , as they had pressed for Assembly polls in March, a couple of days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha poll schedule , all of them wanted simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls . They were keen for having a Legislative Assembly in place at the earliest . Their impatience had its roots in the mounting pressure of the people for having access to their elected representatives to whom they could speak into their ears .They themselves were without any position to listen to and redress grievances . The political parties were caught in no-man’s land.
NEWS ANALYSIS
The ECI took the feedback and went back to Delhi to get the additional inputs about the security situation . It is quite realistic and pragmatic methodology . The Commission has a responsibility toward itself, to the voters . It cannot announce the poll without filling all the blanks. Jammu and Kashmir carries on a legacy of its past as State when the security arrangements determined the polls , their schedule and arrangements for facilitating the voters . The State, divided into two UTs now , has to address the similar issues . Pakistan is continuing with terrorism in Kashmir, the scale might have come down but it is there nonetheless . It keeps shifting its theatre of terrorism from one side to the other of Pir Panjal . Its terror network , though quite shrunk, is operating. Several attacks in Jammu region and encounters in the Valley prove what is Pakistan up to . Pakistan’s love and passion for terrorism to bleed Jammu and Kashmir has to be given a befitting response . Bullets and ballots are not an ideal scenario.
The Government has its own priorities . It is bound by its duty to make the life of citizens safe and secure .Their security is paramount for success of any poll exercise. The result of bullets and ballots and stones and polling is already known . The democracy is a quest for peace and ballot boxes not the coffin boxes . Coffins have to be taken out . Along with it is also necessary , it is of vital importance that a proper atmosphere of feeling safe is there.
The Election Commission , as it had made it known, was about the assessment of the preparedness of polls .
That was done . It took full two days to do so . It also shared what al it was told and by whom and how it will proceed further to meet the concerned agencies in Delhi , explore the availability of security forces and then take the next step .
The August 8 -9 visit was , by no stretch of imagination , conclusive word on the polls . There are many more miles to go. Jammu and Kashmir is a Himalayan UT and it’s Himalayan task to hold polls here.
