New Delhi: In order to expedite the process to hold Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the delimitation commission will undertake a four-day visit to the valley between July 6-9 to interact with all stakeholders, including political parties, their leaders and the administration, the Election Commission said on Wednesday.
According to the poll body, the visit by delimitation commission to the Union Territory will be aimed at collecting "first hand" inputs on the conduct of the mega electoral exercise to carve out new constituencies there.
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The decision was taken after a meeting, held earlier in the day, at EC headquarters in the national capital that was chaired by delimitation commission chairperson Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra.
"During the visit period, the commission will interact with political parties, public representatives and Union Territory administration officials including district election officers/deputy commissioners of 20 districts of the UT to gather first hand information and input concerning the ongoing process of delimitation as mandated under the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019," an Election Commission (EC) spokesperson said in a statement.
The development comes as nearly nine months are left to complete the exercise, as Jammu and Kashmir gears up for its first assembly election since it became a Union territory.
The delimitation exercise has attained an urgency amid indications that the Centre is keen to hold early assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. There is speculation that the polls could be held in the next six to nine months.
According to reports, once the delimitation exercise is completed, the number of assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir will go up from 83 to 90. However, twenty-four seats of the Assembly will continue to remain vacant as they fall under Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
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The delimitation commission for Jammu & Kashmir was constituted last year with a one year time frame to complete its task, but was extended by another year in March 2021 due to the ongoing pandemic.
The visit by EC officials will come days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with leaders of mainstream political parties from Jammu and Kashmir last week where he stressed that the delimitation exercise has to happen quickly so that polls can be held in the UT.
The prime minister, during the June 24 meeting, had said the ongoing delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir has to happen quickly so that polls can be held to install an elected government that gives strength to its development trajectory.