Issuance of notification for J-K panchayat polls begins Tuesday

The stage is set for the nine-phased panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir as the process of issuance of notification begins Tuesday for electing representatives to over 35,000 panch constituencies across the state.

"The notification for the first phase of panchayat polls will be issued tomorrow (Tuesday) and the elections will take place in nine phases," Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shaleen Kabra told reporters here.

He said the phase-wise polling would take place on November 17, 20, 24, 27 and 29 and December 1, 4, 8 and 11.

The CEO said counting of votes would take place on the same day or the very next.

Poll hours would be 8 am to 2 pm, Kabra said, adding the entire process would be completed by December 17.

He said the polls would be held through ballot and migrant Kashmiri Pandits could vote through postal ballots.

"We have got ballot boxes from Haryana. There will be of two kinds white and pink colour - of ballot papers as sarpanches also have to be elected directly in the polls this time," he said.

Kabra said there were a total of 4,483 panchayat halqas in 316 blocks throughout the state. Gram panchayats are known as Halqa in Kashmir.

"The number of electors in the 35,029 panch constituencies is 58,54,208 and we expect very good participation in the polls," he said.

He added that the schedule for the panchayat polls has been framed in a way that elections at places which get snowfall early are held in the first couple of phases.

Kabra said appropriate security measures have been taken to ensure a smooth conduct of the polls.

When asked about the vacant wards which remained unrepresented in the just-concluded municipal polls either due to no voting or no nominations, the CEO said there would be re-polls in those places. He, however, gave no time frame for the re-poll.