Jammu, Aug 14: In a significant development, the State Election Commission (SEC) has briefed the Jammu and Kashmir Government that it will have to take call on conduct of Panchayat and District Development Council (DDC) elections by the end of this month if the polls are to be held this year and any delay will push the electoral exercise to March-April next year.
Reliable sources told the Excelsior that the SEC, which is responsible for conduct of Panchayat, Municipalities, Block Development Council (BDC) and District Development Council (DDC) elections in the UT, has given detailed briefing to the Government that if the elections are to be held this year i.e. in October and November, the Government will have to take a decision before the end of this month.
“If the Government takes the decision by the end of August, the Commission can complete the formalities and hold the elections in October-November as snowfall starts in the month of December and extreme winter sets-in which continues till March. Any delay in taking a decision on the elections will push the electoral exercise to March-April next year,” they said.History
The Commission has to undertake Special Summary Revision with October 1 as cut-off date for enrollment of new voters who attained the age of 18 over last six months, then reserve seats for OBCs and rotate the seats reserved for women, SCs, STs and OBCs, make procurements like ballot boxes etc provided that the Government takes a decision on the Local Body elections.
The SEC has twice written to the Government to take decision on the report submitted by the OBC Commission headed by Justice (Retd) Janak Raj Kotwal in February 2025. Any further exercise by the Government depends on implementation of the report as it will determine percentage of reservation to be given to the OBCs in Local Body elections. The Commission’s report is pending before the Government for last one and a half year now.
The Central Government had given eight percent reservation to OBCs in educational institutions and Government jobs for the first time when J&K was under the Central rule. Subsequently, the Commission was set up to determine percentage of reservation to the OBCs in Local Body elections.
“Only when the UT Cabinet clears the Commission report, the further exercise for elections like reservation of Wards for the OBCs, rotation of reserved seats etc can be undertaken,” the sources said.
They added that the SEC has even finalized the tenders for procurements of election materials etc but they have to be floated only when the Government announces the conduct of polls.
As per the SEC preparations, they are geared up to hold Panchayat and DDC elections together as both involved the rural areas followed by the Municipal polls which are held in the urban areas. There is a provision of indirect election to the BDCs whose chairpersons are elected by the Panchayat members and they can be held only when the Panchayats are in place.
The Panchayats ceased to exist in Jammu and Kashmir on January 9, 2024 and the UT is without the elected Panchayats for past over two and half years now years now.
Similar is the case with the Municipalities which completed their term in October-November 2023. Term of the Block Development Councils (BDCs) was co-terminus with the Panchayats and their tenure also ended on January 9, 2024.
Tenure of the District Development Councils (DDCs) ended on February 24, 2026.
Now, the Jammu and Kashmir is without the elected Local Bodies with all three tiers of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) non-existent.
This was for the first time that the Jammu and Kashmir had all three elected Institutions of the PRIs.–(Daily Excelsior)
