EC to hold fresh round of discussions with MHA team on JK polls

The Election Commission (EC) would call Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and other top officials the Ministry of Home Affairs for consultation -- second time in less than a month -- to firm up its view on whether to hold Assembly elections and Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir simultaneously, officials said.

The meeting, to be held within a day or two, bears significance as the MHA as well as the Jammu and Kashmir administration have already conveyed to the poll panel the difficulties in holding simultaneous elections while almost all political parties in the state batted for holding the two polls together.

"The EC will have a meeting with the Union home secretary and other officers of the MHA within a day or two to firm up its view on assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir," an official said.

Gauba and his team had a meeting with the EC on February 18 when they conveyed the difficulties in holding the assembly polls and Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir simultaneously due .