NC, PDP, Cong for concurrent polls in J&K

All the mainstream political parties, which met the Election Commission (EC) team here on Monday, have favoured holding simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.

Senior leaders of the National Conference (NC) including Ali Muhammad Sagar, Choudhary Muhammad Ramzan and Nasir Aslam Wani, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) including Abdul Rehman Veeri, Haq Khan and Nizamuddin Bhat, and Congress' Taj Mohiuddin and Usman Majeed met the EC team, headed by Deputy Election Commissioner Sandeep Saxena.

"We have told the EC that both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections should be held simultaneously in the state. J&K is without an elected government for the past 9 months. In the absence of an elected regime, uncertainty is deepening. The dissatisfaction among a large section of the people is increasing by the day," said Ali Muhammad Sagar.

The EC team visited the state to review preparations for the Lok Sabha elections.

The team, comprising senior ECI officials, is scheduled to meet leaders of seven national and three regional political parties in Srinagar and Jammu to seek their response on holding elections in the state.

The team will also hold discussions with the Deputy Commissioners and Senior Superintendents of Police of the 10 districts in the Valley and two districts in the Ladakh division.

According to officials, the team will be given a detailed briefing about the overall security in the Valley by the zonal police chief and other nodal officers before it flies to Jammu for similar meetings.

Sources said the EC team will also be briefed about the security situation in the state, following the cross-border tensions in the past one week.

The team will hold a press conference in Jammu before flying back to Delhi on Tuesday.

--IANS

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