*ECI announces JK election dates in 5 phases from Nov 25 to Dec 20* *Floods will not impact polls: Samapth* *72.25 lakh registered voters, 10,015 polling booths, NOTA available* *Srinagar, Oct 25 (KNS):* The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came in to forceon Saturday as Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates forthe assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir with ECI maintaining thatrecent floods will have no impact on state elections. The polls in the flood ravaged stated will be held in five phases startingfrom November 25 to December 20, 2014. Reports informed that counting ofthe votes will be done on December 23. The number of polling stations inJammu and Kashmir for the conduction of elections on 87 seats, there are10,015 polling stations and that total number of electorate is 72.25lakhs. The term of the legislative assembly expires in JK on January 19,2015. ECI on Saturday announced that assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will beheld in five phases between November 25, 2014 and December 20, 2014 andcounting of votes will take place on December 23. Polling will take placeon November 25, December 2, 9, 14 and 20, Chief Election Commissioner V.S.Sampath said in a press conference in New Delhi. ECI also overlooked the suggestions put forth by the ruling NationalConference, that elections in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir be postponed.Sampath said the recent calamity will have no “special impact” on polls. He said post-flood situation, along with other aspects like climate,festivals and law and order situation, have been taken into account whiledeciding the poll schedule. “Except for one political party, most of the political parties (in Jammuand Kashmir) were in favour of holding elections on time. They said thereis no reason, no justification for delaying the polls. The EC’s mandate isto hold elections on time,” he said. Also None Of The Above Option (NOTA) has been made available in theElectronic Voting Machines (EVMs) through which a voter has a choice toreject all the contesting candidates. The state witnessed debate in the past over the introduction of NOTA inJammu and Kashmir with a major chunk of separatists terming it a non- issueand some of the senior mainstream players feared that the option might bemisused by the separatist elements in JK. Congress veteran and a ministerTaj Mohi-ud-din also wrote a letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi askingher to take a note of introduction of NOTA in Jammu and Kashmir. Separatist leader and chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar in an interview had termedthe NOTA option ‘interesting’, saying through this option the people ofKashmir can tell to the world what they want. The current six-year term of the Jammu and Kashmir government comes to anend on January 5. (KNS)
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 14:07:43 +0000
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