Jammu & Kashmir Panchayat By-Elections to Be Held in March

The J&K EC has announced that polls for the panchayat seats in Jammu Kashmir will be held next month in March.

File image of a woman walking out of a polling station in J&K’s Srinagar. Photo used for representation.

(Photo: PTI)

The J&K election commission has announced that bypolls for the panchayat seats in the union territory of Jammu Kashmir will be held next month. This will be the first major political exercise post the abrogation of Article 370, reported news agency ANI.

This exercise will be conducted in eight phases and "The model code of conduct has come into force in the valley" stated J&K Chief Electoral Officer Shailendra Kumar.

The state Chief Electoral Officer Shailendra Kumar also said that the panchayat elections for vacant posts of every block will be held using ballot boxes.

There will be 8 phases of elections. For Jammu division it is 4 phases, for Kashmir division it is 8 phases.

First phase of elections will be held on 5th March, second phase on 7th March, 3rd phase on 9th March, fourth phase on 12th March, fifth phase on 14th March, sixth phase on 16th March, seventh phase on 18th March & 8th phase on 20th March, reported ANI.

The announcement comes as former chief ministers Farooq Abdulla, Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah are under detention for more than six months now. Last week, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti and NC leader Omar Abdullah were charged under the Public Safety Act.

In 2018, two Kashmiri political parties PDP and NC did not participate in the panchayat elections over the issue of special status. The election was largely boycotted in Kashmir and over 12,000 panchayat seats are still lying vacant, reported NDTV.