Despite big players pulling out, civic polls in J&K as per schedule

Srinagar, Sep 11: The government will go ahead with the urban body and panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir despite both the major players- PDP and NC deciding to stay away over the issue of Article 35-A.

Chief Secretary of the state, B V R Subrahmanyam said that the elections will be held as per schedule and in a few days from now the chief electoral officer would release a notification.

He said that the CEO would first notify the elections for the urban local bodies and this would be followed by the panchayats, he also said. He also said that all formalities including the delimitation, reservation of constituencies have been completed.

Advisor to the Governor of J&K, Vijay Kumar said that the security review is taking place as per requirements. On August 31, the state government headed by Governor, Satya Pal Malik had announced that the municipal elections would be held in four phases between October 1 and 5. The panchayat elections would be held in eight phases between November 8 to December 4, the government also said.

With major players pulling out, the government now contemplates holding these elections on a non-party basis. There is talk within the administration that the elections could be held on non-party lines. There is no point in holding on political lines when major parties have decided to stay away, a source informed.