Jammu And Kashmir Leaders To Meet Election Body Today, Press For Polls

An all-party delegation from Jammu and Kashmir, led by National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, is meeting the Election Commission of India (ECI) today seeking elections in the former state.

Jammu and Kashmir is without an elected government for the last five years. The last assembly elections in the Union Territory were held in 2014.

Before the ECI meeting. the delegation led by Mr Abdullah is meeting leaders of all the opposition parties at the Constitutional Club of India in Delhi to seek their support for the restoration of J&K's statehood and other crucial issues people are facing in the region.

Senior leaders of Congress, DMK, RJD, SP, BSP, TMC, AAP, Shiv Sena CPM, and other national parties are expected to attend the meeting.

Since the revocation of J&K's special status, this is the first such attempt by J&K leaders to galvanise support from opposition parties from across the country for the restoration of statehood and democracy in the region. In August 2019, Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its statehood and its unique constitutional position under Article 370 was revoked by the Central government.

J&K is under direct Central rule and without an elected government since June 2018 after the BJP withdrew its support to the PDP-led coalition government in the state.

The delegation is also an important development in the Jammu and Kashmir political equation. Transcending regional fault lines, this is for the first time that parties from Jammu have also joined hands with the National Conference and the PDP on major political issues.