Srinagar, After the delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, now big news has come about the voter list. Now non-Kashmiris will also be able to vote in the state. With outsiders getting the right to vote, the electoral math of the state will change completely. It is being told that with this decision, about 25 lakh new voters will be added in the state. BJP will get direct benefit from this. After the work of revision of voter list has started, now it is being speculated that elections can be held soon. Assembly elections were last held in the state in 2014.
State Chief Electoral Officer Hridesh Kumar said on Wednesday that the names of about 25 lakh new voters are expected to be registered in the electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir. It is noteworthy that in Jammu and Kashmir, earlier through Article 35A of the Constitution, this system was implemented that outsiders could not vote in panchayat and assembly elections. But after its removal, outsiders will get the right to vote. Significantly, for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a special brief revision of the electoral roll is being done.
The Chief Electoral Officer of the state said that the special summary revision of the voter list has to be completed by November 25. He called it a challenging task. It is believed that after the abrogation of Article 370, elections can be held in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time by the end of this year or early next year. There was a dispute regarding the delimitation before that election. Several parties in the state had alleged that the delimitation of seats has been done to benefit the BJP. Now there is a dispute about the voting of outsiders.
After the decision of the government, for the first time in the state, preparations are being made to give the right to vote to non-Kashmiris. Such people are not of Kashmiri origin, but are living here, they will also be able to vote. About 25 lakh such people are being added to the voter list. Most of them will be security forces personnel and migrant laborers. After this announcement of the State Election Commission, all the equations in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir will change.
Opposing this, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has said that BJP is importing voters for victory. However, it is clear from the data that about 30 percent new voters are going to join in Jammu and Kashmir. The largest number of these will be of security forces personnel. After this there will be migrant laborers going from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Their natural inclination will be towards BJP.
