Statehood At Appropriate Time For Jammu And Kashmir , Elections Prerogative Of EC , Says Government In Parliament

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The government has said holding polls in Jammu and Kashmir was the prerogative of the Election Commission and stressed that statehood would be granted to the Union territory at an “appropriate time”.

Replying to written questions in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the decision to schedule elections in the Union territory was the prerogative of the Election Commission of India.

The erstwhile state was converted into a union territory on August 5, 2019 and bifurcated into Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. In reply to another part of the question about any timeline for granting statehood to the Union territory, the minister said, “Statehood would be granted to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time.”

In reply to another question about purchase of lands in the Union territory, the minister said that according to the information provided by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, a total of seven plots have been bought by people from outside the Union territory. “All the seven plots are located in the Jammu division,” the minister said.