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Representative image showing voters in Jammu and Kashmir.
Over 19 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to elect members for the upcoming municipal elections in Jammu and Kashmir which are due anytime after October.
The Union Territory (UT) has already started preparing for elections to municipalities whose term ends on November 15. J&K Chief Electoral Officer on August 29 published the fresh electoral rolls to conduct the Urban Local bodies polls. The summary revision of the polls was ordered in July.
Preliminary figures after the revision of final electoral rolls reveal an increase of 2.17 lakh electors have been added since the last elections were held in September-October 2018. As per official sources, for 2023 municipal polls, there will be 19,14,383 electors, against 16,97,291 voters in 2018, across J&K.
“There may be a chance of slight variation in the figures yet the number of new electors across J&K is above two lakhs. Final revised electoral rolls may be out in public domain by Monday,” sources said.
J&K has two municipal corporations, 19 municipal councils and 57 municipal committees. In 2018, municipal elections were held in four phases on party basis. It is being anticipated that the election schedule may be announced by September end or the October beginning, if the security assessment during that period remains favorable.
Soon after Urban Local bodies elections, authorities are preparing to hold panchayat polls across the UT. The term of panchayats ends on January 10, 2024.
Last week the Center told the Supreme Court, which is hearing petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370 that the legislative assembly elections will happen after the Municipality and Panchayat elections in J&K. The conclusion of the latter two elections is expected to take a few more months.
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