May be conducted on non-party basis like 2018
Voter lists to be updated to include eligible youth
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 25: The State Election Commission (SEC) has geared itself up to hold Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir which are due in October-November this year. All requisite formalities including revision of electoral rolls will be taken up shortly.
BR Sharma, who last week took over the State Election Commissioner of J&K, told the Excelsior that legally the Panchayat polls are due to be held in October-November as last Panchayats were constituted on January 10, 2019.
“Legally, terms of the Panchayats will expire on January 9, 2024 and as per the Panchayati Raj Act, process for Panchayat polls has to be completed a month ahead of expiry of their term which comes out at December 9, 2023,” Sharma 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 said.
Sharma indicated that Panchayat elections are likely to be held on non-party basis though a final decision in this regard has to be taken by the Government.
In 2018 also, Panchayat polls were held on non-party basis while Urban Local Bodies elections were conducted on party basis.
“Names of West Pakistani refugees, Valmikis, Gorkhas etc who were given rights post abrogation of Article 370 granting special status to erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, have already been included in the voter lists and they will be eligible to cast votes,” the State Election Commissioner said.
On demand for some quarters that elections to all three tiers of Panchayats including District Development Councils (DDCs), Block Development Councils (BDCs) and Panchayats should be held simultaneously as is the case in other States and Union Territories, the SEC said term of every elected body has fixed at 5 years.
“If there has to be change in this, the Government has to take a call,” he said.
On revision of electoral rolls, Sharma said the voter lists have been revised but special revision will be done to include the voters who have been left out.
“Basic revision of electoral rolls has been completed recently. However, a special revision will be taken up to ensure that if any eligible voter is left out, he is included,” he said.
He added that all other administrative measures for the elections are on the track.
Sharma said adequate security arrangements will be made for the elections and expressed confidence that there will be maximum participation of the people.
Panchayat elections were held in November-December 2018 after several decades in Jammu and Kashmir. The Block Development Council elections were held almost an year later while the District Development Council polls were conducted in December 2020.
Conduct of Municipal elections, however, is the prerogative of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) PK Pole.
In 2018, the Urban Local Bodies elections were held in October followed by Panchayat polls. This year also, the Municipal elections can be held before the Panchayat polls.
ULB elections in 2018 were held on party basis.
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 Panchayati Raj System are held simultaneously. However, since elections to DDCs were held for first time in Jammu and Kashmir, there was gap of two years in their and Panchayats term while there was an year’s difference in Panchayats and BDC term,” sources said.
Number of electorates in Jammu and Kashmir had gone up to 83.59 lakh when Special Summary Revision was carried out last year and final electoral rolls were published on November 25 last year. The numbers further went up to 8.5 million when the Special Summary Revision was undertaken by the Election Commission this year and final rolls were published on May 27 this year.
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