To meet CS, DGP today; later fly to Jammu
Srinagar: The Election Commissioner of India (ECI) team headed by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Rajiv Kumar arrived here Thursday morning to review poll preparedness for the Assembly elections in J&K.
The full ECI team, including CEC Rajiv Kumar and two commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, were received by the chief electoral officer (CEO), P.K.Pole and the divisional commissioner (Kashmir), Vijay Kumar Bidhuri.
The ECI team drove straight to the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) situated by the banks of the Dal Lake where they started interaction with representatives of various national and regional political parties.
Those sending their representatives to interact with the commission include the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam Aadmi Party, National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the CPI(M).
The NC leaders meeting the ECI team include Sakina Itoo, Nasir Aslam Wani, Showkat Ahmad Mir, Peer Afaq Ahmad and Shami Oberoi.
The PDP has sent Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura, Suhail Bukhari, Asiya Naqash and Abdul Hameed Kosheen.
Congress leaders meeting the ECI include Peerzada Sayeed, Ravinder Sharma, G.N. Monga, Mohd Anwar Bhat and Irfan Nakash.
The CPI(M) has sent Mohd Abbas Rather, Abdul Rashid Ittu and Gulam Mohd Shah.
Aam Aadmi Party is represented by Harpreet Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Amir Kapoor and Prithipal Singh Sodan.
Party sources of all those meeting the ECI said that they are pressing for the holding of Assembly elections in J&K without any further delay.
After this meeting, the ECI team will interact with deputy commissioners and SSPs of all 20 districts of the union territory through video conferencing.
The ECI team engaged in extensive deliberations with a spectrum of stakeholders, including representatives from national and state recognized political parties to solicit valuable insights and understand their concerns, thereby fostering their active involvement in the electoral process.
Later in the day, the ECI reviewed the poll preparedness with District Election Officers and Superintendents of Police (SPs) to deliberate on administrative and security arrangements crucial to the conduct of elections.
Additionally, an evening session was held with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Special Police Nodal Officer (SPNO), and Central Police Forces (CPMF) Nodal Officer to review coordination efforts among various agencies involved in election management.
On August 9, the visit will culminate with a final meeting with the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police. The ECI team will then travel to Jammu for review with enforcement agencies and culminating in a press conference.
As soon as the meeting with political parties culminated at SKICC, the top officials from civil and police administration Thursday met the high-level team of Election Commission of India (ECI) here.
A high-level team comprises three members including Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
The team arrived in Srinagar this morning to meet representatives of political parties, civil, police, and other top officials.
The top officials including Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, all 20 Deputy Commissioners and 23 Senior Superintendents of Police and Superintendents of Police (SPs) briefed the ECI team about the poll preparations, security situation.
The poll body is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir to assess the situation and review preparations for assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, which are long overdue.
The Supreme Court has set a deadline of September 30 for the poll body to hold polls in the Union Territory
