J&K BDC elections seek new politics; polling concludes with impressive voter turnout of 99%

Srinagar, October 24: As Jammu and Kashmir goes on polls for the first time for Block Development Council (BDC), an impressive voter’s turnout has been noted so far as the election comes to an end. The election comes nearly three months after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was removed. Amid tight security, the elections with 99% turnout were concluded peacefully. The results for the BDC will be announced later in the day.

 

The Block Development Council forms the second tier of the Panchayat Raj system in J&K. All the 23,629 panches and 3,652 sarpanches of the Panchayats will vote to elect the chairperson of the Block Development Council. There are a total of 316 blocks of which elections will be held on 283 blocks. According to Chief Electoral Officer Shailendra Kumar,” the polling started at all the polling stations this morning. There has been no reports of delay from anywhere.”

It’s the first time that elections to the blocks, the second tier of grassroots democracy after panchayats, are being held in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Questions have, however, been raised over the credibility of the process in the Valley given that the entire mainstream leadership, barring the BJP, is in jail and the National Conference, PDP and the Congress have decided to stay away from the polls that are being held on party lines. It is however noted that BDC elections will pave the way for elections to the District Planning and Development Boards (DPDB), the third tier of panchayati raj, and thus spur development in the state.