JAMMU(TIP): Lieutenant Governor of the newly formed Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, Girish Chandra Murmu, announced on Thursday, November 14  that the legislative polls in the UT will be held at the earliest. The Centre does not intend to govern J&K without an elected legislature, he said, adding that the electorate would soon be voting to elect their representatives.

“There will be elections in this Union Territory (UT) soon, as it is a UT with legislature,” Murmu said, falling short of specifying when the polls will  be scheduled. The electoral process, however, is expected to take time to initiate as new constituencies are likely to be drawn.

Lt. Governor was speaking at the passing-out parade of the 14th BRTC batch of constables at the Subsidiary Training Centre, Talwara, Reasi district.

The legislative assembly of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir (which included Kargil and Ladakh) was suspended by the Governor in August, citing attempts of horse-trading being made by the regional parties to come to power. The last elected government was headed by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti — who had to resign as the Chief Minister after the BJP had withdrawn support from the coalition government in June 2018.

On August 5 this year, the Centre announced the unprecedented measure of abrogating Article 370 – which granted J&K semi-autonomy – and converted the state into a Union Territory. The UT-status of J&K came into effect from October 31.

Attempts to re-initiate the electoral process gained an impetus after the Centre recorded an unprecedented 98 percent turnout in the J&K Block Development Council elections held on October 24.