Panchayat, municipal polls in J&K ‘unlikely’ before Lok Sabha polls: Poll body chief

Although the administrative council, headed by lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, has taken a decision for extending the benefit of reservation to OBCs in panchayats and municipal bodies, the Centre will have to either pass an ordinance or bring a bill in Parliament

Panchayat and municipal elections in Jammu and Kashmir are “extremely unlikely” to take place before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as the Centre is yet to amend the law for extending reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies, state election commissioner BR Sharma said on Wednesday.

Sharma said the commission was performing its statutory duty of revising and updating the electoral rolls in the Union Territory (HT File)

Although the administrative council, headed by lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, has taken a decision for extending the benefit of reservation to OBCs in panchayats and municipal bodies, the Centre will have to either pass an ordinance or bring a bill in Parliament.

“It is extremely unlikely that the panchayat polls will be held before the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides amending the act, the quantum of reservation has also to be decided,” Sharma said. Lok Sabha elections are due in April-May.

Sharma said the commission was performing its statutory duty of revising and updating the electoral rolls in the Union Territory. According to officials, besides the issues related to OBC reservation, the commission will have to wait till the wards to be reserved are identified.

The other major task likely to be carried out before holding the panchayat and municipal polls will be delimitation of the wards to address the skewed distribution of electors.

In J&K, the chief electoral officer is the authority to hold urban local body elections in addition to Lok Sabha and assembly polls, while the SEC -- headed by a state election commissioner -- is mandated to conduct elections to panchayati raj institutions.

The five-year term of most of the municipalities, including the Jammu and Srinagar MCs, ended in November last year, while the term of panchayats expired on Tuesday.

The tenure of block development councils (BDCs) and district development councils (DDCs) is ending in October 2024 and January 2026, respectively. The last ULB and panchayat elections were held between October and December 2018 after a long delay.