Ahead of the much-awaited Assembly polls the mainstream political parties have first started gearing up for the Panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Though Opposition parties have been demanding early Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, it appears the Centre is keen on testing the political waters by first holding the Panchayat polls.
The election commission is expected to gather feedback from the UT administration before finalising the election schedule. The Panchayat polls are expected to take place during April-May 2023.
The possibility of holding maiden Assembly polls in the summer season looks bleak even after the completion of the special summary revision of electoral rolls in the backdrop of fresh delimitation exercise.
Previously, the local bodies elections were held in nine phases between November-December 2018, months after the fall of the PDP-BJP alliance government. The Panchayat elections are actually due in October 2023.
The election machinery in the Union territory has already set in motion the marathon exercise for revision of Panchayat Electoral rolls before announcing the schedule.
The special drive is being launched from December 21 with January 1, 2023 as the qualifying date for eligible voters.
On ground zero, the political parties too have started holding mass contact programs with their supporters.
District Panchayat Election Officers (DPEO) have been entrusted with the responsibility to engage the government functionaries and other stakeholders to actively participate in the Panchayat Electoral Roll revision exercise to ensure enrollment of all eligible voters in the Electoral Roll.
Special arrangements have been made across all the 20 district headquarters to hold special camps at block level. Political observers claimed during the local bodies elections in 2018 the two opposition parties namely the National Conference and Peoples Democratic party had decided to boycott the polls.