Announcement on Panchayat electoral rolls fuels ‘speculations’ on political turf

At a time when all political parties are eagerly awaiting for an indication from Centre for holding Assembly elections in UT, a speculation has been fuelled that government wants to hold Panchayat polls prior to that. Are elections in UT being deliberately pushed to uncertainty and obscurity by ‘vested interests’….?

Announcement to update Panchayat electoral rolls first has triggered unrest among the parties which are doubting the intent of both Centre as well as LG administration. Amidst a scenario when political parties are gearing up their activities as preparation for the big electoral exercise, sudden announcement on Panchayat electoral rolls has given rise to apprehensions that the Panchayat bodies may be dissolved much ahead of their scheduled tenure since polls for the bodies are due by the end of next year.

While this has come as an unpleasant development for the political parties BJP being the sole exception perhaps, Panchayat Conference which is a body of elected Panchayats has also expressed explicitly that it will oppose any move of preponement the polls. They have also asserted that elections like previous one for panchayats should be held on non party basis.

J&K’s Election Commission on directions from whichever side has already issued a schedule for revision of panchayat rolls and January 1, 2023 has been fixed as qualifying date for electoral rolls while as February 10 has been fixed as date for publishing the final list. The authorities may or not stick to this deadline but this move has sparked a host of speculations on the political turf that government is deliberately delaying the Assembly elections in the UT and vested interests are only roping this strategy in a perpetual manner.

Political parties other than BJP are generating this rumour mill that in order to grind its own political axe for results which the party is eyeing, it has dawned upon them as a part of their strategy to test the political waters first by holding Panchayat elections. “There is no point nor any valid argument for dissolving the Panchayats ahead of their due date in December 23”, said a senior most politician while expressing opinion on the recent development. The government has no excuse for deferring the Assembly polls if the premise is security reasons, he added.

Almost all political parties and strong contenders in terms of key players at the hustings are looking upon the recent announcement as tactics to further own interests within the UT, which may however, be a far fetched possibility, Centre being the sole authority in taking a final decision on call for holding Assembly polls.