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Three J&K districts to elect DDC chairpersons, their deputies today
Baramulla will see a direct contest between alliance candidate Qurat and independent candidate Safeena Baig, wife of former MP Muzuffar Baig
Three important districts of Kashmir, Baramulla, Kupwara, and Budgam, will elect their district development council (DDC) chairpersons and deputy chairpersons today.
Sajjad Lone’s Peoples Conference (PC), which was earlier a part of the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) but left it, has three members in Baramulla and five in Kupwara. In Budgam, National Conference has the most members followed by the PDP and Peoples Movement, which are part of the alliance. So the alliance has an edge over its rivals if its elected members don’t opt for cross-voting.
Baramulla will see a direct contest between alliance candidate Qurat and independent candidate Safeena Baig, wife of former MP Muzuffar Baig. Sources said that PC is likely to support Safeena for chairperson’s post and she may join the party if she gets elected. However, two votes each of Congress and Apni Party will decide the fate here.
Also Read | BJP leaders elected DDC chairmen in Jammu, Kathua districts
In Kupwara, PC has an edge as the party has five members and also the support of independent candidates. Kupwara district is considered Lone’s stronghold and the party won two seats from the district in the last assembly elections.
Of the five districts which have elected their chairpersons last week, newly launched party Apni Party won in Srinagar and Shopian, PAGD won in Kulgam while the two districts of Jammu were secured by the BJP.
The NC termed the chairperson elections as a mockery of the system. “Shopian DDC election, even Srinagar for that matter, aren’t really a surprise. These people have been buying & selling elected representatives since 1984. Practice makes perfect!,” tweeted NC vice president Omar Abdullah soon after the results were declared.
Meanwhile, NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar termed Apni party as Kings’ party supported by the Centre. “King’s party which won only 2 DDC seats in Shopian distt, engineered defections post elections and are now heading the DDC Council there. Similarly in Srinagar, the party won just 3 seats and managed to take control of the district. Is ko bolte hai democracy is aisi ki taisi,” Dar tweeted.
However, Apni party spokesman Altaf Bukhari said that DDC members are joining them as they trust them more than other parties.
