INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
This is the reason home ministry officials are citing for pushing ahead with the plans to hold urban local body elections in the state
A final decision, however, is pending.At a meeting, called by the state's new Governor Satyapal Malik, the matter was discussed threadbare
But there has been no decision about a time frame.Officials say the Centre is under a lot of pressure and is treading very carefully on the
"Any negative report about elections would reflect on the Governors' Rule in Jammu and Kashmir
As far as the panchayat polls are concerned, as they are held on non-partisan lines, they are also on schedule," he added.The local bodies'
elections have lost their sheen after the two key parties in the state, the National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti's PDP, pulled out of the
elections alleging uncertainty over Centre's stand on Article 35A.The Article passed through a Presidential order in 1954 has been
challenged before the Supreme Court
The top court deferred the hearing to January after the Centre sought to citing holding of panchayat and civic elections in the state.The
whole of Kashmir Valley shares that anxiety
"There are reports that fruit grower organisations, houseboat owners and local traders might also give a boycott call
So effort is being made to dissuade them," a senior officer told TheIndianSubcontinent.The PDP has said holding the elections now will be a
"mockery" of the democratic process.State chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam earlier told reporters that the elections will be held as per
"There will no change in dates Three weeks from now we will have urban body elections and on the first week of November, we will have
panchayat elections,'' he had said.While the urban polls are scheduled for the first week of October, the panchayat elections are set to
take place in December.The government wants to push ahead with the elections following Prime Minster Narendra Modi's statement on
The government, he said, is going to hold local bodies polls in Jammu and Kashmir in view of a large number of requests from the state's
village headmen.The last urban body elections were held in 2005
The National Conference has a strong hold in urban areas, but this time, they have boycotted the elections.Panchayat elections are another
matter, the officials say
"They are contested by locals very fiercely and people do participate in it in huge numbers," an official said.After last panchayat
elections in 2011, as many as two dozen sarpanches were killed
But locals then made it clear that panchayat elections are not related to Kashmir issue, but about everyday issues like bijli, sadak, pani
(electricity, roads, drinking water)," adds an officer.The Centre has already agreed to send 221 companies of troops to the state for the
