ECI Begins Revision Of Electoral Rolls In J&K, Draft To Be Prepared By August 31

SRINAGAR: After the completion of the delimitation exercise as the Election Commission (EC) has initiated the revision of electoral rolls in J&K, the mainstream political parties see it as a process ahead of the first polls of the UT.

According to reports, the EC has asked the officials to complete electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir and the draft rolls should be prepared by August 31.

In May, the Delimitation Commission submitted the final report to the government which was accepted. The commission had been assigned the task of redrawing the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies in J&K following the revocation of Articles 370 and 35-A which paved the way for the J&K Reorganisation Act in 2019.

In the first draft proposal, the commission had proposed six seats for the Jammu division and one for Kashmir, and it was not changed in the fresh draft proposal published in gazettes and has been kept the same in the final report also.

The Delimitation Panel — comprising Justice (retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai as its chairperson and chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra and state election commissioner KK Sharma as members — was set up on March 6, 2020, with a one-year term. However, in the wake of the Covid pandemic, its term was extended by one year on March 6, 2021.

Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar and election commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey carried out a review and directed the Jammu and Kashmir chief electoral officer to map the redrawn assembly constituencies.

Quoting officials newspaper HidustanTimes reported that since a lot of changes have been made during the delimitation process so there is a need to carry out revision of electoral rolls, fresh polling stations and the boundaries of the assembly segments.

Officials said the process is mandatory before holding the first assembly elections in the Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of articles 370 and 35-A which paved the way for the J&K Reorganisation Act in 2019.

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