The State Election Commissioner, BR Sharma, has made a significant announcement regarding the long-awaited Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The Commissioner confirmed that the Panchayat elections are scheduled to be conducted in the month of October-November this year.
The forthcoming Panchayat elections are anticipated to mark a crucial step towards strengthening the grassroots democratic system in the region.
Earlier, union Home Minister Amit Shah on June 23 said, 'No one can cancel the initiative we have started of Panchayati Raj. Panchayat elections will always happen in Jammu and Kashmir.'
Panchayats and municipalities in J&K will complete their five-year term in October-November this year while Lok Sabha polls are scheduled in April-May next year.
He didn't elaborate on the date of the Assembly elections that have been due since the PDP-BJP alliance fell apart in June 2018, after which the erstwhile state was brought under central rule. This is the third longest spell of bureaucratic rule in any state or UT with a legislature in independent India's history.
In March a delegation of leaders from J&K led by National Conference president Farooq Abdullah met the Election Commission of India (ECI) to demand that Assembly elections be announced without delay. However, there has been no response from the ECI in this regard so far.
In his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that elections in J&K would be held after the delimitation process is complete. Almost a year later Modi made a similar assurance on June 24, 2021 after he had chaired an all-party meeting with J&K politicians in New Delhi.
