J&K Assembly polls: Omar Abdullah says Lok Sabha Elections a ’test case’ for ’One Nation, One Election’ but....

Omar Abdullah, the former Chief Minister and Vice President of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, said on Saturday that the Election Commission and the government "failed" the "test case" for 'One Nation, One Election". He was referring to the Elections Commission's decision to not hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir with the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

The Elections Commission of India (EC) announced on Saturday that polls for the 90-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly will be held soon after the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 are over. This announcement came days after a high-level committee's report on 'One Nation One Elections' backed simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls.

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After the EC's announcement, Abdullah took potshots at the authorities for not holding Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections along with Lok Sabha polls, like it's happening in four states — Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim.

He said this was “the ideal time to roll out the process of 'one nation, one election'. Speaking at India Today Conclave, he said, “If you can't have the Jammu and Kashmir poll at the same time as the rest of the country now, how you promise it for 2029? This was a test case, and clearly they failed.”

He said he was a bit "disappointed but not surprised" at the Election Commission's decision not to hold simultaneous polls in J&K. "I am a bit disappointed, but not surprised because all the air that has been created for one nation, one election has failed the test," he said.

"The EC, the Jammu and Kashmir administration and to that extent, the government of India is unable to put its money where its mouth is," Abdullah added.

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Omar Abdullah also posted on X: “So much for ‘One Nation One Election’. The EC is unable to conduct assembly polls in J&K with the general election even when they acknowledge that elections are due #GeneralElection2024.”

Meanwhile, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah said that on one side the government "wanted One Nation, One Election and on the other side, they are holding State elections and parliamentary elections in 4 states". He asked, “Why is this (J&K) being denied?”

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he criticised the Election Commission for raising security challenges in the Union Territory and said, "...If they say security is the reason, I do not think so. How is that security is alright for the parliamentary elections and not for the state elections?" He said, "When every party wanted elections (in J&K) then what is the reason it is not being done?"

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Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said political parties in Jammu and Kashmir were in favour of holding assembly elections in Union Territory along with parliamentary or Lok Sabha polls. "...but the entire administrative machinery said it cannot be done simultaneously" from the security point of view," he said.