Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that the BJP is delaying assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir because the defeat of the party is imminent as residents of this are looking for an opportunity to teach BJP a lesson.
"It is due to fear of defeat that the BJP is delaying assembly elections in J&K", Omar told media persons and added that resentiment among people is brewing against the Saffron Party for its misadventures, especially the number of anti-people decisions.
Omar said it is not the Election Commission of India (ECI) but the BJP is delaying the polls in J&K by citing the security situation.
"ECI can not take a decision on its own regarding assembly elections in J&K", he pointed out and added that the BJP's move to cite the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir is an excuse and nothing else.
Omar pointed out that after the abrogation of Article 370, the BJP claimed that the terrorism has ended in Jammu and Kashmir and that the situation has normalized in Jammu and Kashmir. "When the weather is clear and the situation is also normal, delaying elections indicates the BJP is afraid of the polls," said Omar.
Quotes CEO's statement to blame BJP for delaying polls
To authenticate his allegations that BJP is delaying assembly elections in J&K Omar Abdullah quoted a recent statement of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of J&K P K Pole.
He said that the Chief Electoral Officer, Jammu and Kashmir, PK Pole has disclosed that the elections of Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies will be held in the current financial year but unfortunately, he has not clarified about holding of Assembly elections in J&K.
Omar Abdullah further added that BJP is bound to face a debacle in J&K as it has shamelessly imposed several anti-people moves on the people.
Recently, CEO J&K P K Pole said the Panchayat, Urban Local Bodies, and Lok Sabha elections are scheduled in Jammu and Kashmir during the current financial year while Assembly elections are due.
"Panchayats and Municipalities will complete their five-year term in October-November this year while Lok Sabha polls are scheduled in April-May next year, he said.
"As per the procedure, separate revision in the electoral rolls has to be carried out for Panchayat polls while for Urban Local Bodies, the rolls can be extracted from the general Summary Revision," the Chief Electoral Officer said.
J&K is without an elected government since 2018
Jammu and Kashmir has been without an elected assembly since 2018 when it was dissolved by then-Governor Satya Pal Malik. In 2015, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formed a coalition government which fell apart in 2018 when the BJP withdrew its support.
Earlier, it was expected that elections will be held after the Delimitation Commission report. On May 6, 2022, Delimitation Commission finalized its two-year-long exercise recommending the creation of six additional assembly constituencies in the Jammu region and one more in the Kashmir Valley.
Later on November 26, 2022, the final electoral roll of Jammu and Kashmir was published with the addition of more than 7.72 lakh voters. This has taken the total number of voters from 75,86,899 to 83,59,771 — 42,91,687 males, 40,67,900 females, and 184 of the third gender. The political parties were expecting after the release of electoral rolls, polls would be announced, but no announcement has come from the ECI so far.
