By IANS,
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir will have a 16-phase poll, starting April 13, for the over 4,000 panchayats (village councils) in the state, officials said Monday.
Polling for the 4,128 panchayats all across the state will start on April 13 and end by June 30, having 16 phases in all, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer B.R. Sharma said at a press conference here.
The state government earlier Monday said it will hold elections to local bodies as per the state’s own laws and will not amend the constitution in order to follow the national pattern.
Rural Development Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar told the legislative assembly that the local bodies elections will be held as per the state’s own Panchayati Raj Act, which will not be changed in accordance with the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Indian Constitution.
The 73rd and 74th amendments envisage elections at village, block and district levels and planning and executive powers entrusted with the heads of these local bodies, reducing the role of the state government and the ministers.
Sagar said some changes will be effected, but the amendments would not be incorporated in full.
Separatists have given a call for the boycott of polls, while the opposition parties like the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party were insisting that the polls should be held as per the 73rd and 74th amendments to make the panchayat system effective in the state.