Srinagar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued directives aimed at boosting participation in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, urging officials to refrain from detaining political leaders and workers without cause and to avoid shifting polling booths or cancelling rallies at the last minute.
According to a senior Jammu and Kashmir government official, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu conveyed the instructions during their visit to the region last month. "The officials (ECI) stressed that preventive detentions should only target individuals with criminal records, ensuring that action is not taken arbitrarily," the official added.
In past elections, including the May Lok Sabha polls, there were allegations of political leaders and party workers being detained just before voting. Former Chief Minister and People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti had raised concerns during the general elections, claiming her party's workers and polling agents were taken into custody, hampering their participation.
According to the official, the ECI has further instructed the J&K administration to avoid undue arrests around polling time, except for those with criminal or anti-social backgrounds. "The commission also emphasized the need for consistency in polling booth locations, following instances in previous elections where booths were merged or moved at the last minute, leading to confusion among voters."
To support candidate participation, the ECI, according to the official, has directed officials to grant permits for rallies and events in a timely manner and to avoid last-minute cancellations. Meanwhile, as of Tuesday, around three thousand requests for event permissions had been filed by parties and candidates, with 2,223 granted and 327 denied.
Jammu and Kashmir is set to hold its first Assembly elections in a decade, starting with the first phase on September 18. The elections, scheduled in three phases, are the first since the region's special status was abrogated in 2019 and it was downgraded into two Union territories.
In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the region recorded its highest voter turnout in 35 years at 58.58 percent, although still below the 65.52 percent turnout recorded in the 2014 Assembly elections.
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