Panchayati elections in January on non-party basis: Omar

SRINAGAR - The deferred panchayati elections in Jammu and Kashmir will now be held in January next year on non-party basis, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said Wednesday.

The panchayati polls were due in September but had to be postponed following the over five-month-long unrest in Kashmir that left 110 dead and hundreds others wounded.

Various political parties in the state have been pressing for holding the panchayati polls on non-party basis.

Hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Geelani has already called for a boycott of the panchayati elections in Kashmir.

“We intend to hold non-party panchayat elections from January 2011,” the chief minister said at a public meeting in Reasi district of Jammu region, and exhorted the men and women to participate in large numbers “to elect the right candidates as their representatives”.

My government is committed to strengthen the democratic institutions at all levels and empower people to take decisions on development front by themselves, he said, adding that panchayat elections would be an important turnaround in this regard.

Addressing the audience at Mahore, a hilly and backward area about 150 km north of Jammu, the chief minister said the transfer of power to public representatives at panchayat level will also ensure proper and justified spending of allocations and creation of required public assets.

The chief minister underlined the need for fielding women candidates in the panchayat elections, flagging it as an important aspect of women empowerment.

You are 50 percent of the population and your participation and candidature in panchayat elections is imperative, the chief minister told women, adding that issues pertaining to women’s welfare could be better addressed by women representatives.

The panchayat elections have not been held in the state for the past seven years. The government has been deferring these polls in the absence of proper revision of the electoral rolls in the state.