Block Development Council elections in J&K to be held on Oct 24

New Delhi: Amid shutdown in Kashmir valley post scrapping of Article 370, the election authority on Sunday said the polls for block development council in Jammu and Kashmir will be held on October 24.

Chief electoral officer (CEO) Shailendra Kumar announced the schedule for elections to 310 block development councils (BDC) at a press conference in Srinagar, reported Hindustan Times.

The notification for the election will be issued on October 1 while October 9 will be the last date for filing of nominations, Kumar said. The date of scrutiny of nominations is October 10 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is October 11.

 “Polling will be held on October 24 from 9am to 1pm while the counting of votes will begin at 3 pm on the same day. The process of elections will be completed by November 5,” Kumar said.

Panchayat elections in the state were held in November-December last year in which 23,629 panches and 3,652 sarpanches were elected.

Asked if the detained party leaders will be allowed to campaign, he said: “It is not a big election. There will be no fierce door-to-door campaigning. It is a small electoral process.”

The elections will be held in the aftermath of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status by the central government and division of the state into two Union territories.

Kashmir was put under strict curbs and communication blockade on August 5 ahead of the abrogation of Article 370. Mainstream politicians including three former chief ministers of the state and separatists were put under detention.

 

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