J&K polls' timeline to be decided by EC, unlikely to be held with LS, say leaders

The Union government is committed to adhering to the Supreme Court's direction to hold assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir but the timeline for the process will be determined by the Election Commission, a senior functionary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Monday.

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran, Neeraj Chauhan

Party leaders, privy to details, ruled out the possibility of holding polls in J&K simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections early next year, citing security concerns and other logistical limitations.

The SC while unanimously upholding the Union government's move of reorganization of J&K and the reading down of Article 370 that gave the erstwhile state special status, directed the government to restore statehood in the Union territory at the earliest and hold polls to elect a new assembly by September 2024.

A senior party leader speaking on condition of anonymity said though the party is ready to contest polls in the state where the delimitation exercise to draw up constituencies has been completed, the process of conducting panchayat and urban local body elections will have to be completed first.

"It will not be feasible to hold the elections with the Lok Sabha polls in such a scenario," the leader said.