Govt mulls to hold panchayat polls in Jammu, Ladakh regions in May

NL Correspondent

SRINAGAR: The state election office is mulling to hold panchayat polls in Jammu and Ladakh regions in the month of May, officials said.

However, the authorities have decided to put these polls on hold in Kashmir that saw violence during the by-poll of Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. Eight people were also killed during the by-poll on April 9.

Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, Shantmanu, said the electoral rolls for the panchayat polls has been finalised.

Shantmanu has been designated as State Election Commission by the state government for conduct of panchayat elections.

He said, “We are considering to hold panchayat elections in Jammu and Ladakh regions from May 15.”

Further, he said the elections may also be held in three districts of north Kashmir. “If the situation remains normal the elections may be held in Bandipora, Baramulla and Kupwara along with Jammu and Ladakh,” he said, adding “it all depends on the response of the state government which is undecided about these polls so far”.

The state election office can't take the decision on panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir unless gets a nod from the state government in absence of State Election Commission.

The panchayats completed their term in July last year.  Elections to panchayats were last held in April-May 2011 during Omar Abdullah led National Conference-Congress regime after a gap of 37 years. The government postponed these polls for several times in the last one year.

The panchs, sarpanchs believe that government will put them in “great threat” if political parties again use them for “political gains” and link panchayat elections with the “Kashmir issue”.

“The panchayat elections are for local governance.  It has nothing to do with the Kashmir issue as projected by some politicians in the past,” Chairman, All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference, Shafiq Mir had said.

The militant groups issued threats to panchayat representatives in 2013, saying they were being used as “tool by Indian agencies”. After which many panchayat representatives also resigned.

Between 2011 and 2015, the government said that 10 Sarpanches were killed and three injured by gunmen in the valley while 20 resigned following threats from militant outfits.