No preventive detention of leaders, don't cancel rallies: EC's diktat ahead of J&K assembly elections 2024

Ahead of the assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir, the Election Commission of India has instructed administration and security officials to not undertake unnecessary preventive detention of political leaders and workers. The ECI has also directed officials to not shift or merge polling booths at the last minute citing security concerns.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu told officials that only those having a criminal history shall be taken into detention, The Indian Express reported citing sources.

In previous elections, the polling booths would be changed a day or two before voting, which caused confusion among voters, a source said. The EC has also instructed administration officials to grant permission for events in a timely fashion and to not cancel rallies and other events at the last minute. 

Meanwhile, central intelligence agencies have cautioned the security forces stationed in J&K ahead of the polls. The intelligence agencies have warned the security forces of three potential threats -- attempt to foment trouble in Jammu & Kashmir, possible attack attempt by ISI and Pakistani outfits and the likely targeting of political workers. 

Jammu & Kashmir is all set to vote for the assembly elections, which will be conducted in three phases. Voting for the assembly elections will take place across three phases -- September 18, September 25, and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on and results will be declared on October 8. 

The state has 90 assembly constituencies, with 9 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 7 for Scheduled Castes (SCs). 

This is the first assembly election in the union territory after the abrogation of Article 370. In 2019, J&K's special status was revoked and the state was bifurcated into two union territories. Since 2018, the state has been governed without an elected government. Ever since its reorganisation into two union territories, the region has been governed Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.