DDC Phase-1 polls today, 7 lakh eligible to vote

28/11/2020

Jammu, Nov 27: Jammu and Kashmir is all set to witness its first elections since being reorganised as a union territory last year with the maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls beginning on Saturday, officials said.
They said by-elections to 12,153 panchayat constituencies are also taking place along with the DDC polls. Out of these, 11,814 are in the Kashmir valley and the rest 339 in Jammu. Campaigning for the first phase came to an end on Thursday and officials said elaborate arrangements have been put in place for the smooth conduct of the polls and special measures taken in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As many as 1,475 candidates are in the fray for the first phase of these polls, they said. The eight-phase elections are seen as a triangular contest among the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), the BJP and the Apni Party floated by former finance minister Altaf Bukhari.
The PAGD an amalgam of several mainstream political parties, including NC and PDP, seeking the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's special status which was revoked by the Centre last year has been accusing the Bukhari-led party of being a B-Team of the BJP.
There are 280 DDC seats in the union territory - 140 each in Jammu and Kashmir regions, the officials said, adding 14 constituencies have been earmarked in each of the 20 districts of the union territory.
Out of 1,475 candidates, 296 are contesting the first phase of the DDC polls, they said, adding 172 of them are from the Kashmir valley and 124 from the Jammu region. In the first phase of the DDC elections, 43 constituencies will go to polls 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu, the officials said. For the by-elections to panchayats, 899 candidates were in the fray for the Panch seats and 280 for the sarpanch seats, they added.
A total number of 2,644 polling stations have been set up and there are be 703620 electors for this phase, the officials said. Voting for the first phase will take place from 7 am to 2 pm, they said.
State Election Commissioner K K Sharma has directed for setting up of special polling stations for Kashmiri migrants at Jammu and Udhampur so that they can effectively exercise their right of franchise.
Those registered in Jammu will vote at the designated polling stations at Jammu and those at Udhampur would be voting at polling stations set up in that district, he said. He said necessary COVID protocols have been put in place for ensuring the safe polls.
Sanitisation of polling stations and counting centres would be done before the polling date and afterwards as well, officials said.
Availability of all protective and sanitisation equipment like sanitisers, non-contact thermometers, face-masks, face-shields and PPE kits have been provided at the polling stations as well as for the staff and the voters, they added.
Sharma interacted with deputy commissioners of all districts of Jammu and Kashmir through video conferencing which was also attended by the respective CMOs and senior officers of state election commission.
He said foolproof method mechanism has been devised for the postal ballots from absentee voters especially COVID-19 patients in home and institutional isolation and quarantine.
The first phase of the DDC election and panchayatbypolls will be held in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, with 1,427 candidates in the fray and seven lakh voters eligible to exercise their franchise, officials said.
State Election Commissioner K K Sharma said 2,146 polling stations have been set up for the smooth conduct of elections of phase-I.
"As many as 7 lakh voters shall use their right to vote in phase I of polling tomorrow. Out of 7 lakh voters, more than 3.72 lakh are from the Kashmir division and 3.28 lakh are from the Jammu division," Sharma told reporters here.
On the District Development Council (DDC) elections, the SEC said a total of 280 constituencies are in the Union Territory of J&K (14 in each district), out of which voting will be conducted in 43 constituencies from 7 am to 2 pm in phase-I.
He said 296 candidates are in the poll fray, comprising 207 males and 89 females for DDC elections in Phase- I.
Sharma said the sarpanch election will be conducted in 94 constituencies and a total of 279 candidates (203 males, 76 females) are contesting in the first phase.
Similarly, in panchsbypolls, which are going to be held in 368 constituencies, 852 candidates are in the electoral fray out of which 635 are male and 217 are female, he added. Sharma said all arrangements have been completed besides manpower, election material and adequate deployment of security forces have been put in place.
On the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SEC urged the people to follow the guidelines issued by the Election Commission, besides using face masks and maintaining social distance during polling.
He also said sanitizers and face masks shall be provided to the voters, in case they forget to carry their own.
The SEC appealed to the people to come forward to participate in the biggest festival of democracy and urged them to cast their votes.
The DDC election and the panchayatbypolls are being held in eight phases from November 28 to December 19. The counting of votes will be taken on December 22.

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