WITH the assembly elections likely to be held by May-June next year, various political parties in Jammu and Kashmir have started increasing their footfall on the ground first time after August 5, 2019 when article 370 was scrapped. Top sources indicate that the delimitation commission has completed its draft report of new and re-alignment of some old assembly seats in J&K. The commission is headed by retired Supreme Court judge, Ranjana Desai. “The draft report is ready. It will now be shared with the associate members, including three Lok Sabha members from the National Conference (Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi and Akbar Lone) and the BJP’s Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma”, top sources told IANS adding that the commission has already been communicated that there would be no further extension of its time period which ends in March 2022.

 

All major political players including leaders of the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Indian National Congress (INC), J&K National Panthers Party (JKNPP), J&K Apni Party, Peoples Conference (PC) and other smaller groups have started public interactions through meetings and rallies. Close on the heels of PDP chief, Mehbooba Mufti’s visit to the Chenab Valley, NC Vice President, Omar Abdullah started his visit of the region on Saturday. The BJP has already told its party cadre that the assembly elections would not be deferred further and these are being held next year before the annual Amarnath Yatra which begins in the last week of June each year, but was called off due to the pandemic this year. Sources close to the senior leaders of NC, BJP, PDP, Congress and others indicate that none of these parties believes that it could get the majority in the new assembly of its own.