 "Mehbooba Mufti hopeful of Jammu and Kashmir choosing 'ballots over bullets' in 2018 panchayat polls")
Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday expressed hope that the people of the state would choose ballots over bullets during the panchayat elections scheduled to start in February next year. During a meeting with Governor NN Vohra on Monday, she had informed him about the government’s decision to hold the elections from 15 February. [caption id=“attachment_4275803” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti. PTI[/caption] Mehbooba tweeted on Tuesday:
I’m very pleased to announce that the long overdue Panchayat elections in J&K will be held from 15th February 2018. People in the state have always chosen ballots over bullets & will continue to do so.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) December 26, 2017
The panchayat elections were scheduled for last year but could not be held due to the unrest that followed the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on 8 July. Eighty-six people were killed in the violence. The elections could not be held this year again after violence during a bypoll to Srinagar Parliamentary constituency on 8 April left eight persons dead besides forcing cancellation of the bypoll to Anantnag parliamentary.
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