27 elected unopposed; 1065 left in poll fray for 283 block councils

Independents make for 78%; BJP’s chunk 91% among political parties

JAMMU: As many as 27 candidates were elected unopposed as chairmen of Block Development Councils (BDCs), while as many as 1065 candidates are now left in the fray for the remaining 283 councils the elections to which will be held across Jammu and Kashmir on October 24.
"A total of 1,092 nominations, including 853 independents, were found eligible after the scrutiny and withdrawal the last date for which was October 11, out of which 27 candidates were elected unopposed as chairpersons, leaving 1,065 in the fray," state election officials said on Saturday.
Among those elected unopposed, two were from Jammu region—one each from Kathua and Kishtwar, while 24 from Kashmir Valley, and one from Leh in Ladakh.
Among 1065 candidates in fray, 585 will contests in 146 blocks of Jammu region, while 406 candidates will try their luck on 107 blocks of Valley. As many as 74 contestants will fight it out on 30 blocks of Ladakh region.
While the elections to BDCs are being conducted on party-basis, it is the independents which form near about 80 percent of the candidates.

District Blocks Elected unopposed In Fray
Jammu 20 0 82
Samba 9 0 36
Kathua 19 1 72
Udhampur 17 0 58
Reasi 12 0 39
Rajouri 19 0 76
Poonch 11 0 61
Doda 17 0 74
Kishtwar 13 1 44
Ramban 11 0 43
148 2 585
Kupwara 24 1 101
Baramulla 26 4 90
Bandipora 12 2 36
Ganderbal 7 1 28
Srinagar 4 1 5
Budgam 16 3 58
Pulwama 9 4 11
Shopian 8 6 4
Kulgam 9 0 18
Anantnag 16 2 55
131 24 406
Leh 16 1 36
Kargil 15 0 38
31 1 74

Grand total 310 27 1065

Among the 1092 whose nominations were found eligible, more than 78% (853) are independent Panches and Sarpanches, while only 239 are candidates fielded by politicial parties.
BJP has highest 218 candidates among those, while JKNPP sits at a distant second with 18 candidates,
Interestingly, two leaders of the Congress-- which recently boycotted the elections, are also among the contestants in Pulwama and Leh districts, while BSP will have its lone man standing from Budgam.
An analysis of the details reveal that the highest number of 101 candidates are trying their luck from north Kashmir's Kupwara district, followed by nearby Baramulla (90), Jammu (82), Rajouri (76), Doda (74), Kathua (72) Udhampur and Budgam (58 each), Anantnag (55), Kishtwar (44), Ramban (43) and Reasi (39).
38 candidates will fight it out from Kargil, 36 each from Leh, Samba and Bandipora, followed by 28 in Ganderbal, 26 in Bandipora, 18 in Kulgam, 11 in Pulwama, 5 in Srinagar, while Shopian district in south Kashmir has the lowest number of only four candidates.
The CPI(M), National Conference and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) are not taking part in the elections which are being held on party basis. The Congress has announced its decision to boycott the elections citing "indifferent attitude" of the state administration and continued detention of its leaders in Kashmir as the reason for staying away from first elections post abrogation of Article 370 provisions and bifurcation of the state into Union territories, which will come into effect on October 31.
However, two of its candidates are fighting in Pulwama and Leh districts.
There are 316 blocks in the state, out of these two are without elected panches or sarpanches besides, four blocks have been reserved for women and there are no women candidates. Thus, the elections would be held in 310 blocks on October 24.
All necessary arrangements have been made by the authorities for the smooth conduct of elections, the officials said. They said there would be one polling station for one Block Development Council, and accordingly, 310 polling stations have been setup in the state, one in each block where elections are to be held.
There are 26,629 electors, of which 8,313 are women and 18,316 men for all 316 blocks across the 22 districts of J&K, the officials said, adding that the ballot boxes will be used during the polls as the election shall be held through secret ballot.
After successful conduct of Panchayat elections last year, the next step aimed at strengthening the grassroots democracy is the electing the BDCs, to be followed subsequently by elections to District Planning and Development Boards (DPDBs).
Section 27 of the J&K Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 1989, provides for constitution of a BDC for every block. Every BDC would be a body headed by a Chairperson and other Members.
Chairperson of the BDC would be elected by the electoral college comprising panchs and sarpanchs of halqa panchayat falling within the block.
The objective of constituting block development council is to establish second tier of Panchayati Raj Institutions for implementation and monitoring of several centrally sponsored schemes and other projects transferred to halqa Panchayats.
In March this year, the government had approved holding of elections for constitution of BDCs while dates were not announced. Four months later in July, the approval for DPDBs along with BDCs sparked the speculations of the elections to both the tiers in a short time.
When established, the BDCs and DPDBs will curtail some powers earlier exercised by the elected legislators, one of the reasons that the establishment of both these tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions have been opposed by successive governments in the past.
In 2012, the Omar Abdullah government's decision to hold the elections was put off at the eleventh hour after differences with Congress over the issue of reservation for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women.