Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 5: The Election Commission today announced schedule for holding elections to eight vacancies in the Legislative Council arising due to completion of tenure of as many members on March 7. Process for the elections would be set into motion on February 11 with issuance of notification.
Of eight MLCs retiring on March 16, four belonged to Congress and two each to National Conference and People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Election Commission would issue a notification on February 11 inviting nominations for elections to eight seats of the MLCs falling vacant on May 16. The aspirants can file their nomination papers till February 18. Scrutiny of documents would take place on February 19 while the candidates can withdraw their nomination papers on or before February 21.
Voting for eight seats would be held from 10 am to 2 pm on March 7. The counting would start at 3 pm and the results would be declared the same afternoon.
Legislative Assembly Secretary Mohammad Ramzan has been declared as Returning Officer (RO) for the elections.
The election would be held when budget session of the Legislature would be in progress. General budget of the State was scheduled for March 6 and the voting would take place the next day in Central Hall of Legislature.
All 89 members of the Lower House (87 elected plus two nominated women) constituted Electoral College for eight vacancies of the Upper House.
Eight members of the Legislative Council, who were retiring on March 16, included Devender Singh Rana, former Political Advisor to Chief Minister and provincial president of National Conference, his party colleague Mohammad Yusuf Taing, RS Chib, former Medical Education Minister, Mohammad Amin Bhat, Ali Mohammad Bhat and Naresh Gupta (all from Congress), Nizam-ud-Din Khatana and Murtaza Khan (both from PDP).
Mr Chib resigned from the Cabinet in January 15 reshuffle. He was the lone MLC, who had been made Cabinet Minister in Chief Minister Omar Abdullah led coalition Government. Mr Rana had resigned as Political Advisor to the Chief Minister the same day and then took charge as provincial president of the party.
Naresh Gupta had been elected against a seat reserved for Doda district. He was elected to the Upper House after Mohammad Sharief Niaz won the Assembly by-poll from Bhaderwah segment, which was vacated by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad on being elected to the Rajya Sabha. After his election to the Assembly, Mr Niaz had quite membership of the Upper House.
Mr Gupta got only remaining period of the term of Mr Niaz i.e. about four years. Rest all MLCs, who were completing their term on March 16, got six years in the Upper House.
Going by the composition of the Assembly, the major opposition party, the PDP would be in a position to get one of its members elected from four seats of Kashmir region. However, it could be a tough call for the party to get its member elected from Jammu region, where election would be held for three seats only. A separate election would be held for the seat reserved for Doda, which the coalition would capture.
Sources said the role of seven BJP rebel MLAs would also be crucial.
Presently, there were only five members from the opposition in the Upper House including four from PDP and one from NPP. Rest all belonged to National Conference-Congress coalition.
It was in the month of December that 36 member Legislative Council’s strength was raised to 34 with election held for four seats of Panchayat quota-two each from Jammu and Kashmir divisions. The four Panchayat quota seats were filled after nearly four decades as the full Panchayat elections were last held in 1974.
However, two vacancies from Urban Local Bodies remained vacant as the Government has failed to hold elections to the Municipalities, whose term had expired in March 2010.
There are a total of 36 seats in the Upper House. However, present strength of the House was 34 as two seats, reserved for ULBs were vacant.
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, 2011.
Elections to the Municipal Corporations and Committees were not held despite being due in January-February 2010.
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