In a major step forward for conduct of Municipal and Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir, final electoral rolls for the ULBs whose revision was ordered last month, were published today while the State Election Commission (SEC) will shortly order Special Revision for the Panchayat polls.
While final figures are yet to be released by the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), today was the last date for publication of final electoral rolls.
As per the sources, the final electoral rolls have been published as entire exercise for addition, deletion of voters etc for upcoming Urban Local Bodies polls has been completed by the designated staff.
Exact number of electorates eligible for ULB elections will be known within a day or two as the CEO office is yet to make the data public.
Meanwhile, the SEC which is responsible for holding Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir, will also conduct a small 15-day Special Revision of electoral rolls for the Panchayat polls.
State Election Commissioner BR Sharma told the Excelsior that the exercise for Summary Revision of electoral rolls of the Panchayats will be very brief and will last just a fortnight.
As per the Panchayati Raj Act, Sharma said, January 1 has to be taken as qualifying date for registration of new electoral rolls.
“However, we will undertake the exercise very soon to ensure that no eligible voter is left out from exercising franchise in the Panchayat polls. Besides enrolment of new voters, people can also delete the names,” the State Election Commissioner said.
In Jammu and Kashmir, CEO PK Pole has to conduct the Urban Local Bodies polls while SEC BR Sharma is the Authority for holding the Panchayat elections.
An exercise for rotation of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women too has to be undertaken.
Women enjoy 33 percent reservation in Municipalities and Panchayats.
Sources said only once the formalities like updating the electoral rolls through revision and rotation of reserved seats is done, the dates for elections can be announced.
However, prior to announcement of elections, the J&K Government has to assess security situation including deployments required for the polling, sources said.
They pointed out that term of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) will be complete on November 5 and that of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) on November 14 while terms of rest all Municipal bodies including Councils and Committees in the UT will end between October-November.
Five-year term of the Panchayats will end on January 9, 2024.
Term of Urban Local Bodies is counted from the day of their first meeting while that of Panchayats is taken into account the day they were constituted.
“In such a scenario, elections to Urban Local Bodies are required to be completed before the end of October and that of Panchayats in middle of December this year,” sources said.
Term of the Block Development Councils (BDCs) will end in October 2024 while the District Development Councils (DDCs) will complete their tenure in January 2026.
They said the Jammu and Kashmir Government will take a decision after taking security situation and other arrangements in consideration on when to hold the elections. A call is expected only after completion of Shri Amarnath Ji pilgrimage on August 31. (Daily Excelsior)
