In a historic move, Jammu and Kashmir had its first Block Development Council (BDC) elections on Thursday, after the scrapping of Article 370. The voting turnout in the BDC elections was a whopping figure of over 98 percent.
After the declaration of results, it was observed that the BJP won 81 seats, while the Congress and the Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party were able to secure only a single seat each. The most astonishing fact about the results was that most of the winning candidates are Independents. Such independent candidates’ strength stands at a tall figure of 217.
This is the first election since heavy restrictions were imposed in the valley state after the central government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 on August 5. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Election Commissioner (CEO) Shailender Kumar, BDC elections were held in 280 blocks out of a total of 316 in the former state.
As per the official data provided by the election officials, a total of 26,629 electors participated in the exercise. 8,313 of them were women while 18,316 were men.
What is the Block Development Council?
It is the second tier of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) established in the Indian administrative system to increase the participation of people at the grass-root level.
PRIs have three levels, village, block, and district level. The election for the first tier was held last year, which was boycotted by the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party.
According to the official, the elections were boycotted by the two major local parties – Peoples Democratic Party and National Conference.