World | India
Parties prefer early assembly election
Most of the political parties prefer early assembly polls in the strife-torn northern province Jammu and Kashmir.
- By Ajay Jha, Chief Correspondent
- Published: 23:49 September 8, 2008
New Delhi: Most of the political parties prefer early assembly polls in the strife-torn northern province Jammu and Kashmir.
Barring two regional parties, the consensus that emerged at a meeting convened by the Election Commission (EC) yesterday was that elections should take place soon.
The normal six-year tenure of the assembly that was dissolved on July 10, was due to expire on November 20. According to the constitution, fresh polls are required to be conducted within six months of the dissolution of the House.
The EC convened the meeting to seek views of all seven national parties and three regional parties of the state after differences arose following reports that EC was keen on completing the election exercise in the state before onset of winter.
This is a time when some areas become inaccessible following heavy snowfall that starts around last week of November.
Majority consensus
The consensus eluded even on Monday as a majority of the political parties preferred elections to be held soon while the two regional parties, namely the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Panthers Party, argued that fresh polls be held only after completion of a delimitation exercise which has not been carried out in the state.
The Congress party, which was in power until July in the state, left it for the EC to decide the timing of holding elections in the state.
The seven national parties that attended on Monday's meeting include the Congress party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), while the three registered regional parties which attended the meeting were the PDP, Panthers Party and the National Conference.
Interestingly, the CPI, NCP and RJD had no representation in the dissolved assembly while the BSP had at least one lawmaker.
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