KINS Desk
Srinagar, April 29 (KINS): Jammu and Kashmir administration has put elections on vacant Panchayat seats on hold in view of coronavirus.
The Panchayat elections were conducted in November-December 2018 for 4483 Panchayats with a Sarpanch for each Panchayat Halqa and 35029 Panchs in Jammu and Kashmir. However, there are over 60 percent Panchayat seats vacant in the Union Territory.
“Polls were scheduled to be held in April and May. But elections won’t be held till the pandemic is over. Although we had made all preparations but polls have been put on hold,” an official at Chief Electoral office told news agency KINS.
The official said they had also discussed it with Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu.
The official said issue was also discussed with security agencies to ensure adequate security arrangements in place. “It is not possible to hold polls for few months,” the official added.
In Kashmir out of 20093 Panch and Sarpanch seats, only 6162 Panches and 1366 Sarpanches were elected in the polls while 12565 constituencies have remained vacant.
In Jammu, 15800 Panches and 2289 Sarpanches were elected where 166 seats have remained vacant. While in Ladakh, 45 seats are vacant where 1414 Panches and 192 Sarpanches were elected.
National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party boycotted the polls.
Elections for Block Development Council were conducted in Jammu and Kashmir. Two main parties National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party boycotted the polls.
‘Death of Covid positive woman forced police to volunteer themselves for a role they never did before in Sgr’.(KINS)
