india

Updated: Oct 19, 2019 04:41 IST

Twenty-seven candidates have been elected chairpersons in various block developments councils (BDC) of Jammu and Kashmir unopposed, said the chief electoral officer.

“A total of 27 candidates have been elected unopposed in various blocks of Jammu and Kashmir,” said chief electoral officer, J&K, Shailendra Kumar.

After the final withdrawal of nomination papers, 1,065 candidates are left in the fray for election of chairpersons for 283 BDCs.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national vice president Avinash Rai Khanna told HT that out of 27 BDC chairpersons who were declared elected unopposed, 15 belonged to their party.

“For us it is a good thing that BJP is making its strides in Kashmir. This time we have more than 1200 elected representatives here,” Khanna said. Most of these belong to Kashmir districts like Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag, Bandipora, Budgam, Baramulla and Ganderbal.

The BDC elections are due to be held -- for the first time in the history of Jammu & Kashmir -- on October 24.

Region wise, a total of 7528 Panches and Sarpanches were elected in Kashmir while the number was 18089 in Jammu.

“There is a current vacancy of 12776 in Jammu and Kashmir of which 12565 are in Kashmir,” Kumar had said.

The BDC elections will be held in the aftermath of the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status by central government and division of the state into two Union territories.