Srinagar : Voting for the Phase 7 of the District Development Council polls began in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday with 31 constituencies – 13 seats from Kashmir and 18 from Jammu division – going to polls. The voting began at 7 am on a dull note as freezing weather conditions in the Valley kept most people indoors.
State Election Commissioner (SEC) KK Sharma said that against the 31 DDC constituencies of the Kashmir division which will go to polls on Wednesday, there are 148 candidates in the fray including 34 females. In the Jammu division, there are 150 candidates in the fray for the 18 DDC constituencies in this phase, including 38 females.
Voting for 438 Panch and 68 Sarpanch seats will also be conducted simultaneously. Out of the total 1,270 Panch vacancies notified in this phase, 416 were elected unopposed. The other 438 constituencies will go for elections with 1,000 candidates contesting the elections including 287 female candidates.
As many as 6,87,115 electors (3,59,187 male and 3,27,928 female voters) are expected to cast their votes for the foe the 31 constituencies of the DDC in 1,852 polling stations – 1,068 in Kashmir division and 784 in Jammu division.
Special arrangements for the polls have been made in following the Covid-19 guidelines. “Sanitizers, thermal scanners, and face masks have been arranged at the polling stations to ensure that SOPs issued by the concerned authorities, including wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing, are strictly followed at the polling stations”, KK Sharma said.
Parties including the BJP, Congress, National Conference, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Peoples Conference and CPI(M), formed the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration and are fighting the maiden DDC elections together. Elections for the DDCs, which are being held in eight phases, will conclude on December 19 and the counting of votes be held on December 22. (Agencies)
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