Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): Jammu and Kashmir, which awaits an elected government since 2018, has now been deprived of the grassroots elected representatives as the five-year term of elected panchayat bodies ended on Tuesday. The panchayat members were elected in December 2018 and those left vacant in 2018 polls were filled by re-elections in December 2022 when first District Development Council elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of article 370.
On Tuesday, the five-year term of panches, sarpanches and Block Development Councils will cease to exist. However, the District Development Coucil will remain in tact and their five-year term will end in 2026. The Jammu and Kashmir LG led administration and the BJP-led centre government have been trumpeting about giving grassroots level democracy and representatives to people of Jammu and Kashmir by holding panchayat and DDC elections.
However, the central government and the JK administration is non-committal about holding these elections as yet as there are no indications from Government of India about holding democratic elections here. Holding of panchayat elections will get delayed as the State Election Commissioner will first take revision of electoral lists till February end, reserve seats for Other Backward Class population and hold delimitation of panchayat consciences.
Official sources said that these procedures will take at least six months and until then panchayat polls will not be conducted. Last assembly elections were held in 2014 and since 2018 when BJP withdrew its support to PDP, Jammu and Kashmir is under President's rule governed by an LG. The term of Urban Local Bodies ended between November and December, and these elections are also being held anytime soon.
Panchayat body representatives said that the Government of India is not holding local bodies polls which according to them delivered grassroots development and democracy to people of Jammu and Kashmir in absence of legislators. They said that the State Election Commissioner is reviewing electors rolls for panchayat bodies by this month end but not committing about holding these elections.
Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Movement president Ghulam Hassan Panzoo said that the Central government and State Election Commission are violating Panchayat Raj Act which recommends that elections must be held two months before the term of previous bodies ends. "BJP government is boosting about grassroots and good governance but on the other side it is replacing elected bodies with bureaucracy which is against Panchayat Raj Act," Panzoo told ETV Bharat.
He said that the State Election Commissioner should announce holding panchayat elections before parliament polls. Anil Sharma, president of All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference, too demanded that the government of India must hold panchayat and urban local body elections across Jammu and Kashmir with Parliament elections.
"The government is wasting time and depriving the people of Jammu and Kashmir of elected representatives by not holding elections when security situation is conducive for them," Sharma said. The mainstream political parties including National Conference and PDP are demanding holding of panchayat and assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. These two parties had boycotted 2018 panchayat and urban local bodies elections, arguing that the Centre government should guarantee safeguard of special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
However, article 370 and 35 A were abrogated on August 5, 2019 and downgrading Jammu and Kashmir state into two union territories.
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