The Union Territory and Central Election Commissions will decide whether to call for elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre said in a statement to the Supreme Court on Thursday. The administration was responding to the apex court’s inquiry regarding the timing of the valley polls.
The central government emphasised that the UT status is temporary but did not provide a timeline for restoring its statehood on Day 12 of the Supreme Court’s hearing on the Article 370.
It read: “(We are) unable to give an accurate time period about full statehood at this moment… Due to the exceptional circumstances the state had experienced, which included recurrent and ongoing upheavals for decades, it may take some time,” The Centre told the court.
It might take some time due to the exceptional circumstances the state has to deal with, including frequent and ongoing disturbances for decades, the Centre warned the court.
“Those steps (to restore J&K’s statehood) have been taken. I’ll offer a few examples of how it’s developing into a state. Since I am unable to provide specifics, Tushar Mehta, the solicitor general, said. He claimed that numerous e-initiatives had occurred.
“As a result, openness has allowed us to see that the number of projects has increased from 9229 in 2018 to 92580 in the present. The use of e-tendering, etc., is increasing. Youth are working for pay, he claimed.
Mehta, speaking on behalf of the administration, stated that while the process of updating the voters list for J&K—a UT created out of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir—was in progress, it is now “substantially over.”
There are three upcoming elections. The three tier panchayat raj system is established for the first time. Panchayat elections would be held first. Elections for the district development council have already been held, he explained. Elections for the Kargil Hill Development Council would be held by the end of this month, he claimed, while the Leh elections had already concluded.
Stone-pelting and frequent calls for bandhs and hartals were the issues that had the biggest impact on the elections in the valley, according to the SG.
“In 2018, there were 1767 stone peltings. It is nonexistent (at the moment), in part due to effective law enforcement and security personnel as well as other measures like hiring young people for pay, etc. Secessionist forces misled them, he continued.
Mehta claimed, citing statistics on terrorism, that the number of terrorist-initiated incidents had decreased by 45.2% between 2018 and 2023. 90.2% less infiltration was detected. As security personnel deaths decreased by 65.9%, stone-pelting and other law and order incidents decreased by 97.2%.
“These statistics are all important for determining the timing of the elections. These are something that agencies would think about, the SG stated.
