The bypolls to panchayat in Jammu and Kashmir, scheduled to be held from March 5, have been postponed due to security reasons, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shailendra Kumar said on Tuesday.
The last panchayat election in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was held in November 2018 – months after the ruling coalition between the BJP and Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP collapsed and the state was placed under Governor’s Rule.
By-election to over 12,500 panchayat seats in Jammu and Kashmir was scheduled to be held in eight phases from March 5. Assembly elections have not been held since, and Jammu and Kashmir continues to be under Central rule.
“In exercise of powers under Section 36 of Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, read with Rule 8 and Rule 40 of the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996, the notifications dated 15-02-2020 and 17-02-2020 issued for Phase 1 and Phase 2 respectively, and the schedule issued on February 13 for other phases of the Panchayat by-election 2020 are hereby withdrawn. After addressing all the concerns suitably at the earliest, possibly in two to three weeks, a fresh schedule shall be notified,” read a notification from the Office of the Election Authority.
It stated that the Home Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, through a letter dated February 18 had “advised the Election Authority to consider deferring of the conduct of polls based on credible inputs from the law enforcement agencies.”