Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 12: Much awaited Panchayat elections in the State, scheduled to be held in May, are once again set to be put off for the time being due to postponement of Anantnag Lok Sabha by-poll, which has also resulted into delay in preparation for the elections to rural bodies, already delayed by about a year.
“There seems to be no possibility now of holding Panchayat elections in May as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has deferred to May 25 the by-poll to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat that was scheduled to be held today. However, a final call has to be taken by the Cabinet on the advice of Rural Development Ministry and taking into account law and order situation in the Kashmir valley, which was rocked by large-scale violence during Srinagar Parliamentary seat by-poll on April 9, leading to eight fatal casualties,” official sources told the Excelsior.
After deferring the election, which were earlier scheduled to be held in March in the wake of announcement of by-poll to two Lok Sabha seats of Srinagar and Anantnag by the Election Commission, the Government and the State Election Commission proposed them to hold in May after completion of Parliamentary poll process on April 15.
The State Election Commission had put draft rolls for Panchayat elections in public domain in March and proposed April 15 as the date for final publication of the rolls. However, seven districts of Kashmir, which formed part of two Lok Sabha seats of Srinagar and Anantnag going to by-polls, had been delinked from the process for finalization of electoral rolls.
When approached for comments, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Jammu and Kashmir, Shantmanu said the final electoral rolls of 15 districts of the State have been delayed only by few days. The rolls were scheduled to be published on April 15 but they will now by published with a delay of only few days, he added.
While three districts of Srinagar Lok Sabha seat including Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal will be free from elections after counting on April 15, four districts of South Kashmir including Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian, which formed part of Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, will go to polls on May 25 and it would be very tough for the Deputy Commissioners to hold exercise for publication of electoral rolls for the Panchayats simultaneously.
“In such a situation, it will not be possible for the Government to hold elections to the Panchayats in the month of May,” sources said, adding this would further push the Panchayat poll process ahead as there will be holy month of Ramzan from May end to June end while pilgrimage to holy cave shrine of Shri Amarnath Ji in South Kashmir Himalayas will start on June 29 and continue till August 7.
According to sources, law and order situation has been another aspect, which could lead to further delay in holding Panchayat election in the State.
The violence witnessed during Srinagar Parliamentary constituency by-poll in which eight civilians were killed and over 200 others were injured, which also led to postponement of Anantnag by-poll, was another factor, which was a major cause of worry for the Government in announcing Panchayat elections.
The Panchayat elections were due in Jammu and Kashmir in May-June last year as five year term of the rural bodies was scheduled to be completed in July 2016. However, the Government didn’t hold timely elections to them due to 2016 summer unrest in the Valley for over five months in the wake of killing of Hizbul Mujahideen divisional commander Burhan Wani.
Panchayat elections were held in the State in 2011 after a gap of more than three and half decades.
The Government had decided to hold Panchayat elections in March and requested the Election Commission of India to defer Lok Sabha by-poll to May-June i.e. after the completion of Panchayat polls. However, the Election Commission went ahead with by-polls to Lok Sabha seats and advised the State Government to hold Panchayat polls thereafter.
The State Election Commission had completed delimitation of Panchayats last year, a pre-requisite for holding the polls.
Prior to delimitation, there were 4098 Panchayats in the State including 2145 in the Kashmir division (including Ladakh region) and 1953 in Jammu province. Apart from that, there were 15,767 Panch segments in Kashmir division including Ladakh and 13,635 in Jammu region.
With the State Government through an act of legislation deciding to do away with Sarpanch constituencies by deciding to hold in-direct election to them, there were only Panch segments in the State now. The Panch segments have been converted into odd-number by the SEC in every Panchayat to facilitate election of Sarpanch from amongst the Panchs.
Sources said the State Government would shortly take a call on the fate of Panchayat elections now taking into account the preparations made by the State Election Commission and law and order situation in the Kashmir valley.
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