SRINAGAR: With the filing of nominations for Block Development Council polls closing Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the sole runner in most blocks, with the party fielding candidates for 122 blocks out of 137 in Kashmir.
Major political parties in the region including National Conference (NC), Congress, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference and JK Peoples Movement, have stayed away from polls, as their leaders and functionaries remain behind bars.
A senior government official privy to developments said that dozens of panchayat members had filed their nomination papers as independent candidates till Wednesday afternoon.
Without disclosing the exact figures, he said a few dozen independent candidates and over 122 BJP candidates have filed their nominations from Kashmir.
Though, BJP had said it would field candidates from 131 blocks out of 137 in Kashmir, however, they could manage 122 candidates only, as rest of the blocks have no panchayat members.
A senior BJP leader from Kashmir accused the NC, PDP and Congress of fielding proxies as independent candidates. The parties have announced a boycott of the polls.
The NC and PDP had earlier boycotted both the urban local bodies and first tier of panchayat elections held last year, however, Congress participated in these elections, but decided to boycott the BDC polls now.
Some 12,565 panch and sarpanch seats remained vacant in panchayat polls held last year in Kashmir valley amid boycott by NC and PDP.
Now with the arrest of major political leaders and party functionaries in Kashmir in wake of abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, the BJP is fast emerging as the main contender in the BDC polls in Kashmir.

Mir Iqbal