Polls in J&K after delimitation exercise: Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held once the delimitation exercise is over and after consultation with political parties.

”We have no interest in keeping Jammu and Kashmir under President’s Rule,” Shah said in Lok Sabha while responding to concerns raised by members on Kashmir during the discussion on the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill.

Shah said that he had made it clear that first panchayat elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir, then this would be followed by the delimitation exercise, after which assembly elections will be held, and then J-K’s statehood will be restored.

”Panchayat elections have been held, without any violence. Zilla panchayat elections are over. Delimitation is on the verge of completion. I would like to say this once again, that once delimitation is completed we will hold elections after consultation with political parties,” Shah said.

During the discussion on the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, opposition members had accused the government of delaying the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir has been under President’s Rule since June 2018, when the BJP walked out of the coalition government with the PDP which was led by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. The Modi government had bifurcated the state into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh in August 2019. Jammu and Kashmir, which is now a Union Territory with a legislative assembly, is under President’s Rule under the J&K Reorganisation Act.