Efforts on to complete all necessary formalities: Officials
Srinagar, Aug 26: The J&K administration has geared up to hold Panchayat Elections in the union territory which are due in October to November this year, officials said.
An official told Morning Kashmir that the Panchayat elections are likely to be held in October-November this year. He, however, said that before the announcement, a lot more needs to be done for the conduct of these elections.
“Security situation and other arrangements will be put into consideration. If all goes well then Panchayat Elections might be held in time from October to November this year,” he said.
Another official claimed that the government was slowly gearing up for the conduct of Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies elections.
Sources indicate that Panchayat elections are likely to be held on a non-party basis though a final decision in this regard has to be taken by the Government.
In 2018, Panchayat polls were held on a non-party basis while Urban Local Bodies elections were conducted on a party basis.
Braj Raj Sharma, State Election Commissioner of J&K, has already said that the panchayat elections would take place in J&K in November-December this year.
“Legally, terms of the Panchayats will expire on January 9, 2024, and as per the Panchayati Raj Act, the process for Panchayat polls has to be completed a month ahead of the expiry of their term which comes out on December 9, 2023,” Sharma had said.
For Panchayats to be in place well in time, the elections are, as per the rules, required to be conducted in October-November, he had said.
As per the details, the term of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) will complete on November 5 and that of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) on November 14 while terms of all Councils and Committees in Jammu and Kashmir will end between October-November.
The five-year term of the Panchayats will end on January 9, 2024. The term of Urban Local Bodies is counted from the day of their first meeting while that of Panchayats is taken into account the day they were constituted.
In such a scenario, elections to Urban Local Bodies are required to be completed before the end of October and that of Panchayats in the middle of December this year.
The term of the Block Development Councils (BDCs) will end in October 2024 while the District Development Councils (DDCs) will complete their tenure in January 2026.
“Generally elections to all three tiers of the Panchayati Raj System are held simultaneously. However, since elections to DDCs were held for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir, there was a gap of two years in their and Panchayats term while there was a year’s difference in Panchayats and BDC term,” the report quoting sources said.
Parliament elections are also scheduled to be held in Jammu and Kashmir along with the country in April-May 2024.
Meanwhile, the sources were, however, of the view that there seems to be no possibility of holding Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir this year.
The last assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in November-December 2014 leading to the formation of the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led PDP-BJP coalition Government in March 2015 after hectic consultations. The BJP, however, withdrew support for the Mehbooba Mufti-led Government in July 2018 that led to the imposition of President’s rule followed by Governor’s rule in the erstwhile State.
After the revocation of the special status of the erstwhile State and its bifurcation into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, J&K was given a 90-member Legislative Assembly on August 5, 2019. However, the first election to the assembly is yet to be held as the Delimitation Commission took two years to complete the exercise which was followed by a Special summary Revision and was completed on November 26, 2022.
