SRINAGAR: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been under fire for not holding polls in Jammu and Kashmir, declared today that the state would have elections before September. “Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls will take place prior to September,” declared Tarun Chugh, the chief BJP general secretary, on Saturday. According to Chugh, the BJP wants Assembly elections to take place as soon as feasible. He did, however, clarify that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has the last say and that the BJP is ready for polls before September. He pointed to recent bills that give Paharis in the area reservations, praising the BJP for its earlier, model efforts to provide similar privileges to other underprivileged groups like Gujjars.Politicians such as Omar Abdullah, the vice-president of the National Conference, have accused the BJP and the Election Commission of postponing the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. According to Abdullah, if the region’s Assembly elections were held today, the BJP would not even win ten seats. Omar has earlier expressed regret about the Supreme Court’s directive to hold Assembly elections before September. “In other words, the EC ought to be embarrassed of itself. The citizens need an apology from the EC. The Supreme Court made the ruling that had to be made. The Indian government ought to have assisted the EC in making the decision to hold elections. However, neither of them seemed to care about it.In its ruling on December 11 of last year, the Supreme Court ruled that Article 370 had been revoked and ordered the Election Commission (EC) to conduct polls in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30. Leading a five-judge Constitution Bench, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud declared that direct elections were an essential component of democracy and could not be excluded.
