Jammu and Kashmir is gearing up for simultaneous local body elections to the posts of panch and sarpanch. A panch is an elected member of a village ward and a sarpanch is the head of a cluster of wards or a village.
K. Vijay Kumar, Adviser to J&K Governor N.N Vohra, told The Hindu that earlier indirect elections were held for the gram panchayats.
“Earlier the panchs used to elect the sarpanchs. This time, there will be two votes — one for the panch and the other for the sarpanch; it’s a direct election. Voting will be done simultaneously, with a voter will elect the panch as well as the sarpanch.”
Plea on 35A hearing
Last week, the State government, currently under Governor’s Rule, moved a plea in the Supreme Court to defer the hearing in a clutch of petitions challenging the validity of Article 35A of the Constitution that is to begin on Monday, citing the upcoming panchayat and urban local body elections.
Article 35A lets the J&K Legislature decide the “permanent residents” of the State, prohibits a non-J&K resident from buying property in the State and ensures job reservation for its residents.
Dates not finalised
Mr. Kumar said the dates for the local body elections had not been finalised yet, but the voters’ list was being updated.
\“Preparation and planning from administrative and security angle is on. The Governor had conducted a couple of meetings and the process is already started,” he said.
Polls last held in 2011
The former IPS officer said the threat quotient would be calculated at the right time.
The panchayat elections, last held in 2011, could not be conducted for security reasons and because of the tourist season. Militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen threatened to pour acid in the eyes of people participating in the electoral process. Elections to the urban local bodies were last held in 2005.
The officer said the administration had conducted an internal review on the abductions and killings of policemen in the Valley.
“By abductions and killings of policemen, the terrorist groups want to demoralise the J&K police. The force stands in good form along with the CRPF and others. These people inevitably have to go home to meet families; so they become easy targets. We will take all precautions, the policemen have been asked not to move at pre-determined times,” Mr. Kumar said.
Mr. Kumar said there was a huge thrust on incomplete projects.
“We are doing everything to make a steady improvement; huge thrust given to unfinished schemes, introducing development projects. In the absence of public representatives, nobody else can be blamed so the officials have to be more proactive. Forward thrust not only in the Kashmir Valley, but the other two regions (Jammu and Leh) also,”Mr. Kumar said.