Free and fair Lok Sabha polls would be ensured in J&K, says CEO Pole

Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole on Saturday said free and fair Lok Sabha polls would be ensured in the Union Territory.

Pole reviewed the preparations for the polls in the Anantnag Parliamentary constituency in south Kashmir.

"The notification for Lok Sabha polls would be issued in 10-12 days. Election is definitely a challenging task, but our officers are experienced. Our endeavour is to have a peaceful, transparent, free and fair election and improve the voter turnout compared to the last elections," Pole told reporters.

Asked about the security arrangements, the CEO said the security environment has become better over the last few years but there were some challenges.

"The challenges are still the same and so we have flagged the requirement for forces. The locally available forces and those who come from outside will be deployed according to the norms of the election commission whether it is on polling station duty or area domination or other duties. We will ensure free and fair, transparent and event-free elections," he said.

Pole appealed to the people to come out to vote in large numbers when the elections take place.