Jammu, March 18 A delegation from the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) met State Election Commissioner (SEC) Shantmanu on Wednesday and requested early elections for village councils and urban local bodies in Jammu and Kashmir.
The delegation, led by PCC working president Raman Bhalla, also included chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, former minister Yogesh Sawhney, former legislators Ved Mahajan and Balbir Singh, and president of District Congress Committee, Jammu Rural, Neeraj Kundan, a party spokesman said.
Currently, no elected local body is functional in the Union Territory. The terms of municipalities ended in October-November 2023, while village councils and Block Development Councils completed their five-year terms on January 9, 2024.
The terms of District Development Councils also ended on February 24, leaving all local bodies without elected representatives.
According to officials, elections to local bodies could not be held on time due to multiple factors, including the delimitation exercise and the reservation of wards for other backward classes.
The Congress delegation discussed issues and concerns of people in rural and urban areas related to village councils and municipal bodies, including the revision of electoral rolls, delimitation and rationalisation of wards, rotation and reservation for SCs, STs, women and OBCs, and the overall conduct of elections, the spokesman said.
He said the delegation shared its inputs and sought information on the ongoing efforts to ensure that the entire exercise is conducted in a transparent manner, while stressing the need to involve all political parties for a more effective and meaningful process.
The Congress assured full cooperation in the entire exercise and said it is prepared for elections to all institutions of the Panchayati Raj system.
Bhalla said the SEC noted their concerns and assured consideration, terming the meeting fruitful for early and smooth elections to vacant PRI institutions in J&K.