In J&K, Assembly Elections To Piggyback On National Polls, Say Sources

Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under President's Rule, is likely to have a double helping of elections -- national and state - over the coming months. Sources said the announcement is likely this evening, when the Election Commission declares the dates for the national polls. After the Commission's press meet in Delhi, its unit in Jammu and Kashmir has also invited the media for updates.

The Jammu and Kashmir assembly was dissolved in June when the BJP ended its alliance with Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party.

Last week, following requests for assembly elections from all political parties in the Kashmir Valley, Election Commission officials visited the state to gauge feasibility. The situation in Kashmir has been sensitive following the February 14 terror attack in Pulwama, in which 40 soldiers from the Central Reserve Police Force lost their lives.

Ms Mufti's PDP had won 28 of Jammu and Kashmir's 87 seats, the BJP won 25. With the Congress and the National Conference getting only 15 and 12 seats -- far behind the majority mark of 44 even when taken together -- the BJP and the PDP started working on a tie-up to avoid a re-election.

But the disparate ideologies of the two parties made rapprochement difficult and the alliance unravelled less than three years after the death of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

The alliance with the BJP has proved expensive for the PDP in terms of support in the Valley and the allegiance of its leaders. Over the last month, the party suffered a severe setback after several of its leaders, lawmakers and former minsters resigned and joined Omar Abdullah's National Conference.

The BJP has not been able to escape unscathed. Its alliance with the PDP was seen as opportunistic and the entire top leadership in Ladakh have walked out.

Recently, a former minister from Jammu, Lal Singh, also quit the party, saying he would fight the BJP in the elections.