Chief Electoral Officer, J&K Shantmanu, who is also Observer for the conduct of biennial elections to the Legislative Council, today visited Legislative Assembly Secretariat here and took stock of the arrangements put in place for the smooth conduct of elections to elect the Members of Legislative Council (MLC).The Chief Electoral Officer went round the Legislative Assembly Secretariat Central Hall, and enquired about the arrangements put in place there.Briefing the Chief Electoral Officer about the arrangements, Secretary, J&K Legislative Assembly Mohammad Ramzan, who has been appointed as Returning Officer for the election, informed that all arrangements have been made with necessary paraphernalia, saying that the ballot box would be sealed in presence of authorized agents of the Political parties before commencement of polling. Chairing a joint meeting of officers of Assembly Secretariat and Election Department, the Chief Electoral Officer also discussed the procedure of voting and counting of votes threadbare.
The elections will be held tomorrow on April 17, 2017 in which Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) will cast their votes through open ballot from 9:00AM to 4:00 PM. The counting of votes and results will be declared on the same day.Pertinently, there were 8 candidates in fray for elections to 6 seats of the Legislative Council which will fall vacant due to retirement of 6 LC Members on April 19. Out of the total 8 candidates in fray, four candidates namely Yasir Reshi, G L Raina, Aga Syed Mehmood and Pradeep Sharma made their entry to the Upper House unopposed as there was no candidate in fray. One Candidate Ashok Kumar Bhat withdrew his candidature.Now there are three candidates in fray. These include PDP candidate Abdul Qayoom Dar (Jammu Province), BJP candidates Vikram Randhawa (Jammu Province) and NC and INC candidate Thakur Balbir Singh (Jammu Province).Among others Joint Chief Electoral Officer Raman Kumar Kesar, Joint Director Information, Jammu Manisha Sarin, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Krishan Lal, Deputy Secretary, Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly appointed as Assistant Returning Officer also accompanied the Chief Electoral Officer. (KNS)