PANCHAYAT ELECTION IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR 2011: A CASE STUDY IN KULGAM DISTRICT

Abstract The objective of this study is to analyze the people's participation in the 2011 panchayat elections and success of panchayati raj institutions. These elections were held after a long gap of 10 years, on the non-party basis with 33% reservations for women, only in Panch Seats. According to the new system people were directly voted, to elect Panchs and sarpanchs at Halqa level. The state election department had prepared fresh data about the number of Panchayats and Panch Constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. The state has total 52 Lakh voters eligible for voting during Panchayat polls of 2011, around two lakh of these voters were exercised their right for the first time. Following the updation of the electoral rolls, the number of Panchayats and panch constituencies have gone up to 4131 and 29710 respectively across Jammu and Kashmir. The study is an empirical study based on primary date. The study was conducted in one randomly selected panchayat of kulgam block of District Kulgam. The study unfolds awareness of the people about powers and functions of panchayat system, affiliation of people with a political party, the participation of people in panchayat elections, issues on which panchayat elections fought, rate of success of panchayats, criteria of getting votes in villages and the responsibility of village development