NEW DELHI: On Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The meeting took place in order to discuss the situation in the state, where the elections to the urban local bodies are underway, reported sources.
In the half-an-hour meeting, the governor briefed Mr Singh about the law and order in the Kashmir Valley and the state. Besides this, Rajnath Singh was also briefed regarding the ongoing urban local bodies polls in Jammu and Kashmir by the governor. The state is currently under the governor’s rule and Mr Malik is the administrative head of the state.
The urban local bodies polls in the state were divided into four phase, of which the second phase took place on Wednesday.
Majority of the people were kept away from the booths in Kashmir Valley following threats from militant groups. In the first phase of the polls in Kashmir Valley, only 8.3 percent votes were cast while 65 per cent of the votes were cast in Jammu and Ladakh divisions vote in the first phase of urban local body polls on Monday.
As per the reports, 4,130 village headmen, 29,719 panchayat members and 1,145 ward commissioners in the state are to be elected with the election process. And a total of 3,372 nominations have been filed for 1,145 municipal wards. The next phases of the elections are said to take place on October 13 and 16.
The announcement regarding the urban local body polls was made last month. And due to the Centre not taking a firm stand on the protection of Article 35-A of the Constitution, the National Conference and the PDP boycotted the elections.
On the other hand, threats have been issued by the militants for the people who will participate in the elections. Following the threats, Two National Conference workers were killed last week. As a result of the pressure and threats by the militants, no candidate filed nomination papers in dozens of wards in south Kashmir. Besides this, the candidates who have shown the courage to participate in the elections have been moved to safe locations and their details have not been made public.
The panchayat polls in the state will be held in nine phases starting November 17.
