Srinagar 01 Jan : As the poll fever grips Jammu and Kashmir, a crucial review meeting will be held in New Delhi in the last week of Januray to gauge the mood and to take a final call as to whether time was ripe for holding assembly polls in the trouble ravaged State.
Sources told Kashmir In-depth that the meeting will be either chaired by the union home minister Rajnath Singh or by the Union home Secretary Rajiv Gauba with top officials of election commision and the officials from the JKs election department also set to participate in the meet.
The need for holding polls arised after Governor SP Malik dissolved the 87-member assembly. The union home minister Rajnath Singh recently announced that the centre was ready to hold polls in Kashmir. He however didn’t announce or hinted at the dates.
A source said the elections are most likely to take place in March-April that will be followed by the Parliamentary polls country wide.
Sources said that Election Commison of India is set to invite heads of various political parties for their fees back on the polls before taking a call on holding polls.
“ECI will also get the feedback from the top security officials of various agencies,” sources said. The security situation according to top security officials has started improving after the killing of.recprd 250 militants in year 2018.
The security agencies have already briefed the ECI that the State witnessed successful and peaceful polls and that security agencies were ready to create a peaceful and conducive atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir for the smooth Assembly and Parlimentary polls.
“What remains to be seen is whether ECI would combine the Assembly polls with the Lok Sabha polls or it will first hold Assembly polls alone,” sources said.
