Nc, Cong to contest 2 seats each; PDP 4
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 13: Election for four seats of Legislative Council from the quota of Panchayats would be held by June 15. The Election Commission of India (ECI) was expected to issue two separate notifications for holding the elections to two seats each for Jammu and Kashmir provinces. Ladakh region has been included in Kashmir province.
Home Secretary and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the State, B R Sharma told the Excelsior that process for holding elections to four seats of the MLCs from the quota of Panchayats has been set into motion. He said all clarification of the ECI on holding elections for four seats of the Upper House has been replied.
“The election notification was expected to be issued very soon. The election, which would be held under the Representation of People’s Act (RPA), was likely to be conducted by the middle of June, most likely around June 15’’, official sources said.
Mr Sharma, who had been credited with holding Panchayat elections to the State last year after about four decades, said the electoral college for four seats has been notified and submitted to the ECI for facilitating issuance of notification.
As many as 15,726 voters would elect two MLCs for two seats of Jammu while 18,123 electorate would vote two candidates to the Legislative Council from Kashmir province including Ladakh region. Total voters for four seats included 33,849.
Out of 15,726 voters for Jammu province, 1966 were Sarpanchs and 13,760 Panchs while from 18,123 electorates of Kashmir province, 2164 were Sarpanchs and 15,959 Panchs.
Four seats for which the elections were being held have been named as MLC (J-I and J-2) and MLC (K-I and K-2).
As the elections were being held under RPA, the eligibility criteria for the contest would be same as that of MLA. The recognized political parties can field a maximum of four candidates, two each for Jammu and Kashmir province seats while Independent candidates can also jump the fray to test their luck.
According to reliable sources, National Conference and Congress, the two coalition partners would contest the election in alliance with both parties fielding two candidates—one each in Jammu and Kashmir provinces. The main opposition, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) would field four candidates. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Nationalist Panthers Party (NPP) would also contest all four seats. Newly floated Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Front (JKDF) could also jump into fray for all four seats.
Sources said the National Conference and Congress could face a stiff contest from the PDP on two seats of Kashmir province as a number of PDP backed Sarpanchs and Panchs had won the election. However, the candidates of coalition partners could have a smooth sailing in Jammu province where divided opposition parties like BJP, NPP, PDP and JKDF might not be in a position to win over the Sarpanchs and Panchs in their favour, they said.
The Congress was strongly considering the name of former Deputy Chief Minister and veteran party leader Mangat Ram Sharma for the contest as he was sulking after being denied mandate in the election held for lone vacancy of the Upper House in March this year. Various other Congress candidates including Arvinder Singh Micky, former Deputy Chairman of Legislative Council, Bhupinder Singh Pathania, Kanta Andotra, Hari Singh, Yogesh Sawhney, Suman Bhagat and Prakash Sharma were also trying for the party mandate from Jammu seat.
For Kashmir, Congress senior vice president Ghulam Nabi Monga was front runner. Monga had lost the election in lottery after getting tied in votes with National Conference candidate Vijay Bakaya in 2009 elections to the Upper House. Abdul Gani Vakil, former Minister, Muzaffar Parray and Abdul Majeed Paddar were also trying hard to get the party mandate, sources said.
The National Conference would consider its candidates after the return of ailing party president and Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Dr Farooq Abdullah to Srinagar after discharge from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, where he has been admitted for past over a fortnight due to chest and viral infections.
A total of 286 polling stations would be set up for the election in 143 blocks of the State i.e. each block would have two polling stations each. The polling stations would be located in a single building with separate Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Every Sarpanch and Panch would cast his vote twice in separate EVMs—one each for two candidates.
Divisional Commissioner, Jammu province and Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir province would be appointed as the Returning Officer for both the seats falling in Jammu and Kashmir provinces respectively. Each District Election Officer will be appointed as Assistant Returning Officers for the polling stations/CD blocks falling with the territorial limits of his district. However, in case a CD block falls in more than one district, the District Election Officer having administrative control of more than 50 per cent of Panchayat Halqas falling within that CD block will function as Assistant Returning Officer for that CD block.
There will be two polling stations i.e. one for each MLA constituency for all Panchayat Halqas within that CD block. The polling stations will be set up at the CD block headquarters. As there were 143 CD blocks, 286 polling stations will be set up for the election. All Sarpanchs and Panchs of one particular block will be required to cast their vote at block headquarters. The maximum number of electorates for one polling station will be 611 at Keller in Kulgam.
“Two separate notifications would be issued for the purpose of filling up the four seats. Each notification would cover election to two seats i.e. one seat each from Jammu province and Kashmir province respectively. Separate EVMs will be used. A separate marked copy of the electoral will be prepared for each election. Each elected Sarpanch/Panch would take part in both the elections and cast his/her votes twice’’, sources said.
There are a total of 36 seats in the Upper House. However, present strength of the House was 30 as six seats, four reserved for Panchayats and two for ULBs were vacant.
It was in 1974 that four seats reserved for Panchayats in the Upper House were filled after the elections. After that the seats remained vacant as complete elections to Panchayats were never held. It was in September 2011 that election process for Panchayats was completed after being set into motion in April last year.
Strength of the House prior to 2005 remained confined to 30 as four seats reserved for Panchayats and two for Municipalities (Urban Local Bodies) couldn’t be filled in the absence of elections to both Urban and Rural Local Bodies.
However, two seats of Urban Local bodies were filled in October 2005 as ULB elections were held in January 2005 after a gap of 26 years. PDP’s Nizam-ud-Din Bhat was elected from a seat reserved for Kashmir from the ULBs while former Deputy Chairman of Legislative Council and senior Congress leader, Arvinder Singh Micky was elected from Jammu region.
Both these seats have also fallen vacant as Mr Bhat quit membership of the Upper House in 2009 after his election to the Legislative Assembly while Micky’s term expired on September 15 last year.
Elections to the Municipal Corporations and Committees were not held despite being due in January-February 2010.
With the filling up of four seats in the Upper House from the quota of Panchayats shortly, the number of seats in the Upper House would rise to 34 as two seats of ULBs only would remain vacant.
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