BJP is prepared for assembly elections as and when Election Commission announces polls: Ram Madhav

The BJP on Monday urged Election Commission to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and exuded confidence that party will form next government in the state. "We hope, we expect and we demand that assembly elections are held this year," said Ram Madhav, the party's national general secretary.

Jammu and Kashmir has been under President's Rule since June last year, when the BJP ended its alliance with Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party or the PDP. Last week, parliament approved the extension of President's Rule for another six months, which will end on January 3 next year.

The Election Commission has said it would announce elections in the state this year after it received a green signal from both the Centre and the state government on the law and order situation.

Ram Madhav on Monday said after panchayat and municipal elections, parliament elections were also held peacefully in the state. "We demand election Commission to hold assembly elections later this year," he said.

In March - weeks after the suicide attack in Pulwama in which 40 soldiers died - the Election Commission ruled out holding the state election along with the national elections. The state government, it said, had advised against it in view of the law and order situation.

Citing the security situation, the Commission held a three-phase election for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in Kashmir, creating history of sorts.

The announcement had angered the state's political parties, who alleged that the BJP government at the centre was not keen on initiating the democratic process in the state.

Mr Madhav on Monday said the BJP is fully prepared for assembly elections as and when Election Commission announces polls in the state.

"We are confident that the BJP will show better perforce than the last elections and with the help of some colleague (allies) BJP will form government in the state," he said.

In 2014, the state had delivered a split verdict and the BJP had joined hands with the ideologically disparate PDP to form government in the state.

But the alliance had a rocky start, and rifts started to show within months of the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, then Chief Minister and Mehbooba Mufti's father, who died in office in January 2016.