The Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir are likely to be announced after the Amarnath Yatra, which will conclude on August 19.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a late night meeting with Jammu and Kashmir unit party leaders and directed them to be ready for the upcoming Assembly elections.
The two-hour long meeting was attended by BJP chief and Union Minister JP Nadda, MPs Ravinder Raina, Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma — and other top leaders.
Jammu and Kashmir is likely to see its first Assembly election in September this year, according to the timeline fixed by the Supreme Court after the erstwhile State's special status was scrapped in 2019. The last Assembly election in the erstwhile State was held in 2014.
At the meeting, top leadership has made it clear that the party will not enter into a pre-poll alliance with any party in the State. It was also conveyed that the party would remain open to seat adjustments and "electoral understandings" with "like-minded parties.
Besides, it was also conveyed that the party will not project any face for the Chief Ministerial candidate in the run-up to the Assembly polls and there will not be any changes in leadership or organisational rejig in the State BJP unit, currently headed by Ravinder Raina.
In the coming days, key Union Ministers and BJP national leaders are expected to visit the State. The party will also launch a mass contact programme with the people in the State.
The Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was dissolved in November 2018 ahead of the revocation of the State’s Special Status in August 2019.
The BJP-led Government scrapped Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 and bifurcated the State into two Union Territories. There have been demands from political parties for early Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and restoration of Statehood.
Moreover, during a recent visit to Kashmir, the Prime Minister stated that preparations for elections had begun and that J&K would soon have its own Government.
The revision of electoral rolls will start in J&K on July 25 and culminate on August 20, according to the EC. “After the exercise is over, the EC may announce holding of assembly polls in the UT any time,” a poll official said.
The five LS seats in J&K — the first major electoral exercise post Article 370 abrogation — recorded voter turnout of 58.58 per cent, the highest in the last 35 years.
The political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have started gearing up in advance for the much-awaited Assembly polls in the coming months.
The Election Commission (EC) has already kicked off preparations for holding Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir by updating electoral rolls in these states.
However, the final schedule of the Assembly polls is yet to be announced after taking stock of the prevailing security scenario in the region.
Since last week both regional and national political parties have been holding brainstorming sessions to chalk out their poll strategies.
To begin with, the Congress party first summoned its local leadership to New Delhi to strategize for the upcoming Assembly polls.
The Congress party is preparing its cadre to give a tough fight to the BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls by overcoming internal bickerings in the party unit in Jammu and Kashmir.
In Srinagar, the Manifesto Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Friday sought suggestions from the general public before finalising the final draft.
The Peoples Democratic Party is also focusing on strengthening the party base and in touch with the party leaders who had earlier left the party for greener pastures. A former Cabinet Minister Syed Basharat Bukhari Thursday returned to the party fold after a long hiatus.
