Jammu: The All Party Meeting on Panchayat elections will be held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday.
The APM has been convened by the government to seek the views of all the political parties in the State regarding the conduct of the polls.
They said all recognized political parties have been invited to the meeting. Members of National Conference and Congress, among others, are scheduled to attend the meeting which has been convened at 2 p.m., they said.
The APM was earlier to be chaired by Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Abdul Haq Khan. However, Opposition parties like National Conference and Congress demanded Chief Minister to chair the meeting, underlining that it useless in her absence as she also holds the charge of Home department. The Government conceded to the proposal and Abdul Haq Khan made the announcement about the Chief Ministe chairing the meeting earlier this week.
The National Conference General Secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar who is going to lead the party delegation during the APM said that the situation for holding Panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir was not conducive as the chief minister Mehbooba Mufti herself has stated on the floor of the house. The NC leader however maintained that the ball was in the court of the government and that it has to take the final call over whether to defer or hold the polls on time in the state. Perhaps the government has realised the mistake of announcing the Panchayat polls as it has now stated clearly that the situation is quite worrisome on ground. Now it is the government which has to see what measures are needed to be taken on ground, Sagar said.
The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the BJP said it would press for early panchayat polls at the all party meeting
A BJP state unit spokesman said its state president Sat Sharma and other leaders will represent the party at the meeting. “The BJP will press for early panchayat elections in the state,” he said after a meeting of state core committee.
The state Congress said it will push for the conduction of parliament by-polls in Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency during meeting.
During the All Party meet, the Congress will demand that the government must clear its stand on the by-polls in Anantnag that are being deferred by the government citing the security situation, state Congress chief G.A. Mir said.
According to reports, Indian Home Ministry has decided to deploy over 40,000 personnel of the central paramilitary forces for the panchayat elections. The decision, the reports said, was taken on the request of the state government and accordingly 300 companies of various Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are being deployed for the polls.
Of the fresh battalions sanctioned for the task by the Home Ministry, the report said, 85 will be from the Central Reserve Police Force, 75 from the Border Security Force, 55 from the Central Industrial Security Force, 40 from the Sashastra Seema Bal and 45 from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
Apart from the fresh battalions, 101 training companies of these forces, already present in the state, will also be utilised for the panchayat elections, officials said.
In December last year, the government had said it would hold the panchayat elections from February 15. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had revealed the date after she met Governor N N Vohra in Jammu.
During their half-an-hour long meeting, the Chief Minister informed the Governor about several important matters with regard to which the cabinet had taken decisions a few days back. She also informed about her governments decision to commence panchayat elections from February 15, 2018, an official release had said.
There are 4,378 panchayats in state. The number of panch constituencies is 33,402, 4,000 more than when panchayat elections were last held in 2011. In the panchayat elections, only panches will be elected directly by the people.
The elected panches in a panchayat constituency will in turn elect their respective sarpanches.
The panchayat polls were scheduled last year when their five-year term ended but the elections could not be held amid unrest in the Valley following the killing of Hizb-ul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.
Last year also, the elections could not be held in view of unrest during most part of 2017.
The Governor had on November 4 last year promulgated an ordinance designating the states Chief Electoral Officer as State Election Commissioner for conducting the panchayat elections.
The ordinance was mooted by the Rural Development Department as there had to be an Election Commission in the state for holding the panchayat elections.
Farooq Questions Govt
National Conference patron and Parliament member Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that how government can conduct Panchayat polls when it failed to hold elections on a single seat of Anantnag Parliament constituency.
The Government has been unable to conduct parliament elections on a single seat of Anantnag Parliament constituency. This is just a small part of Kashmir. How can it conduct Panchayat elections in entire state?Abdullah questioned while talking to reporters in central Kashmirs Ganderbal district.
Meanwhile, Abdullah has also asked the government to expedite the work on the Z-morh tunnel.
Earlier, Abdullah, along with MLA Kangan Mian Altaf Ahmad and political advisor to Omar Abdullah Tanvir Sadiq, visited Gund to condole the demise of noted social activist and ex -NC block president Gund Late Haji Sheikh Mohd Yousuf who passed away last month.
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