Against the backdrop of a boycott call by separatists, terror threats and major logistical challenges in snowbound areas, J&K is set to go for the nine-phase panchayat poll from Saturday amid tight security arrangements.
The panchayat elections are being held in J&K after a gap of seven years. The last elections were conducted in 2011 and the panchayats had completed their five-year term in 2016.
“As many as 47 blocks — 26 in the Kashmir division and 21 in the Jammu division — mainly in snowbound parts of the state will go to the polls in the first phase. In this phase, the polling will be held on 536 panchayat halqas and 4,048 panch wards, deciding the fate of 6,378 candidates comprising 427 for the posts of sarpanch and 5,951 for panch,” said a senior official of the state election department
For the first phase, a total of 1,886 nominations — 713 in Kashmir and 1,173 in the Jammu division — were received for sarpanch halqas while the number of nominations for panch wards was 6,763 comprising 2,383 in Kashmir and 4,380 in Jammu.
The official said, “apart from security challenges, it will be an uphill task for us to conduct elections in snowbound and remote parts having zero or no accessibility. Given the tough geographical terrain and logistical challenges, the polling parties have been dispatched to all snowbound areas in advance while men and machinery in inaccessible snowbound areas are being ferried through choppers, particularly in Ladakh, Kashmir, and parts of Kishtwar district in the Jammu region.”
In the Ladakh region, at least 10 blocks, including six in Leh and four in Kargil, will go to the polls in the first phase. In these blocks, there are around 33 panchayats having at least 110 polling stations. For seven panchayats, the administration will have to requisition helicopters to ferry the polling staff to their respective polling stations.
Pertinently, at least 12 panchayat buildings have been set on fire in the Valley during the past two months. At least 16 panchayat members were killed in Kashmir during the five-year term of last panchayati raj institutions, from 2011 to 2016, in the state.
The state has a total of 316 blocks having 4,483 panchayat halqas and 35,029 panch constituencies with a voter base of 58.54 lakh.
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