Polling for the eighth and final phase of the District Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Saturday morning, report...
Polling for the eighth and final phase of the District Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Saturday morning, reported PTI.
Thirteen of the 28 seats that went to the polls on Saturday are from the Kashmir division, while 15 are from the Jammu division. A total of 1,703 polling stations have been set up, while 630,443 electors including are eligible to vote.
Voting is also being held for 369 vacant local representative body posts of panch and sarpanch, State Election Commissioner KK Sharma told PTI.
Elections to the District Development Council is the first electoral exercise to take place in Jammu and Kashmir since August 5 last year, when the Narendra Modi-led government revoked the region’s semi-autonomous status, annulled its separate constitution, split the area into two Union Territories – Ladakh and Jammu-Kashmir – and removed inherited protections on land and jobs. The elected members have no legislative powers and are only responsible for economic development and public welfare of the region.
So far, the seven phases of voting held on November 28, December 1, December 4, December 7 and December 10, December 13 and December 16 registered voter turnouts of 51.76%, 48.62%, 50.53%, 50.08%, 43.27%, 51.51% and 57.22%, respectively. The counting of votes will be held on December 22.
