New Delhi: A delegation of the Election Commission of India (ECI), led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, reached Srinagar on Monday reached Srinagar on a three-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to assess the preparations for the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll.
According to sources, the poll panel is also likely to discuss the possibility of holding assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir along with the Lok Sabha poll.
The ECI team will hold detailed meetings with civil administration and police officials on Tuesday as part of the review process, they added.
The EC officials are also scheduled to meet representatives of political parties during the visit.
They will hold similar interactions in Jammu on Wednesday, sources said further.
There has been a growing demand from political quarters in Jammu and Kashmir that the Election Commission hold Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir simultaneously with the Lok Sabha poll or immediately after the General Elections.
Former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad have raised this demand in the past few weeks.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo held a meeting with the civil and police administration on March 9 to sensitise them about the measures to be taken for the smooth conduct of the Lok Sabha polls in the Union Territory.
The Chief Secretary asserted that the administration's objective is to ensure free and fair elections with large-scale public participation.
Dulloo had impressed upon the divisional and district administrations to take all necessary measures to ensure that people do not face any hardships in exercising their democratic rights.
Police fully prepared, says DGP
- J&K Director General of Police (DGP) RR Swain said on Monday the police were prepared to ensure that the coming Lok Sabha elections were conducted peacefully in the Union Territory
- Swain said, “The police are prepared to provide a safe environment to the voters during the parliamentary elections.”
- To a query regarding the drug trade menace in J&K, the DGP said the narcotics trade was directly linked with terrorism
