ULB elections in March, Panchayats in May-June

Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 3: The Government will hold Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) elections in March and Panchayat elections in May-June next year in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ongoing summary revision of electoral rolls by the Election Department would be taken as voter lists for the ULB elections while April 1, 2016 will be taken as cutoff date for Panchayat elections.
While Panchayat elections will be held as per schedule after five years, the first time in history of Jammu and Kashmir when they will be held on time, the ULB elections are being held with a delay of six years as they had become due in January 2010.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), J&K, Shantmanu told the Excelsior that a notification for holding elections to 78 Municipalities-just two more than January 2005 when last elections were held to the Urban Local Bodies-will be issued in the mid-February and election process has to start between 30 to 45 days as per provisions of the Election Department.
“A minimum time of 30 days and maximum of 45 days has to be kept between issuance of notification and first phase of elections,” he said, adding the election process would start by the middle or end of March and will be completed within a month.
The CEO said elections will be held for 78 ULBs that included two Corporations, six Councils and 70 Committees. Jammu and Srinagar, the two capital cities of the State, have Corporations while six Councils included Poonch, Udhampur and Kathua in Jammu region and Anantnag, Baramulla and Sopore in Kashmir. Leh and Kargil were among 70 Municipal Committees.
Shantmanu said the elections to the ULBs will be held on the basis of Wards including those reserved for women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes etc in 2005 elections.
“There will be no change in number of Wards and reserved Wards,” he added.
Election will be held for 78 Municipal Committees-two more than 2005 when there were 76 ULBs. Two new Committees were added in the list about two years back by the Housing and Urban Development Department.
The electoral rolls of the ongoing summary revision, which have to be published on January 10, 2016, will be taken for holding the Municipal elections.
With Municipal elections in March, the Panchayat elections will be held in May-June as the Election Department needs sometime to add new voters with April 1, 2016 as cutoff date. Those eligible to be enrolled as voters on April 1, 2016, will be included as voters for the Panchayat elections.
The existing Panchayats were scheduled to complete their term around July and, therefore, there will be no delay even if the elections are held in May-June.
Shantmanu said the Panchayat elections will also be held on the pattern of 2011 with same number of Wards including the reserved ones.
“The reserved Wards and area of the Wards will be same as it was in 2011 as fresh delimitation is not being held for the elections,” he said, adding that delimitation of Wards could push the elections at least six months ahead.
This is for the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir that Panchayat elections are being held in time in the past over four decades. The Panchayat elections were held in 1974. Elections to few Panchayats were held in 2000. Full elections to Panchayats were held in 2011 during previous National Conference-Congress regime but the Panchayat representatives always complained that they were not granted adequate powers.
The elections to Block Development Councils (BDCs) and District Development and Planning Boards (DDPBs) were not held.
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has already announced that elections to Panchayats will be followed by elections to BDCs and DDPBs and all these institutions including the ULBs will be fully empowered.

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