In the first major political exercise in the region after the Prime Minister-led Narendra Modi government scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status and split it into two union territories, the local body election for nearly 13,000 panchayat seats in Jammu and Kashmir is scheduled for March.
The first phase of the bypolls will be held on March 5, followed by second on March 7, third on March 9, fourth on March 12, fifth on March 14, sixth on March 16, seventh on March 18 and last on March 20.
The Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect will the announcement of the bypoll schedule.
After taking into consideration all relevant factors and inputs from various stakeholders, the Jammu and Kashmir election authority has prepared the schedule for the bypolls to panchayat halqas and panch wards. Issuance of the first notification would be on February 15, Union Territory's Chief Electoral Officer Shailender Kumar said.
The chief electoral officer said, "Ballot boxes would be used during these elections. Sufficient number of ballot boxes have been made available for the purpose."
The process for filling 11,639 panch seats and 1,011 sarpanch seats will completed by March 26, he said.
The Panchayat election was held in November-December, 2018, and 22,214 panches and 3,459 sarpanches were elected in out of 33,592 panch and 4,290 sarpanch constituencies.
Further vacancies have accrued on various accounts such as deaths and resignations. Also as a result of polls to block development committee (BDCs) chairpersons in October, 2019, another 307 seats of panch and sarpanch fell vacant, Kumar said.
He said that the candidates elected during these by-elections shall hold office for the remainder of the period of five years commencing from the date of constitution of Halqa Panchayat.
The panchayat bypolls would be videographed and district panchayat election officers (deputy commissioners) will arrange sufficient numbers of video and digital cameras and teams for the purpose, the chief electoral officer said.
In order to enable Kashmiri Migrant voters to exercise their franchise through postal ballots, 'Migrant Postal Ballot' scheme was notified for the 2018 panchayat elections, he added.
In the last panchayat election in 2018, two major political parties of Jammu and Kashmir including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC) did not participate over the issue of special status. Out of Kashmir’s 20,093 panch and sarpanch seats, more than 12,500 seats have remained vacant since then. Most of the seats that will go to polls are in the Valley.
