E-Paper
DDC polls in J&K: 33 seats to go to polls tomorrow as third phase begins
The polling hours shall remain the same from 7am to 2pm.
After witnessing 51.76% and 48.62% voter turnouts in the first and second phases of the district development council (DDC) elections, the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is set for the third phase of polling on Friday.
State election commissioner KK Sharma said, “A total of 33 DDC constituencies with 305 candidates in the fray will go to polls in the third phase on Friday amid tight security arrangements.”
He informed that voting will be held in 16 constituencies with 166 candidates in Kashmir, and 17 constituencies with 139 candidates in Jammu region.
“There are 252 male and 53 female candidates in the fray under the phase third. This time, 7,37,648 voters that include 3,85,675 males and 3,51,973 females will exercise their right to franchise,” he said.
The election authorities have set up 2,046 polling stations — 1,254 in Kashmir and 792 in Jammu. Kashmir has 3,63,044 voters while Jammu has 3,74,604, the election commissioner said.
The polling hours shall remain the same from 7am to 2pm.
So far, polling has taken place in around 86 constituencies in the first two phases.
The SEC said that all the arrangements regarding elections have been completed including manpower, election material and security cover.
Regarding sarpanch by-elections, Sharma said that out of the 126 constituencies, polling shall take place in 66 constituencies and a total of 184 candidates are contesting in the third phase, including 144 male and 40 female candidates. Similarly, in panch by-polls, he informed that there are 1,738 constituencies, and out of them 798 have been elected unopposed.
Sharma urged the voters to strictly adhere to Covid guidelines by wearing masks and maintaining six feet distance at the polling stations.
He also asked them to participate in maximum numbers to strengthen grassroots democracy in J&K.
The DDC elections are the first major electoral exercise taking place in J&K after the revocation of Article 370 in August last year and the bifurcation of the former state into two UTs.
