Twenty-eight constituencies are set to go for polling in the eighth phase of the District Development Council (DDC) polls and 285 Panch and eighty-four Sarpanch seats will also witness voting on 19 December across Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a Press Conference here, State Election Commissioner (SEC), KK Sharma informed that a total of twenty-eight DDC constituencies will go to polls including thirteen seats from the Kashmir division and fifteen from the Jammu division with 168 candidates contesting the last leg of the elections.
Giving further details, the SEC said that against the thirteen DDC constituencies of the Kashmir division going to poll tomorrow, there are eighty-three candidates in fray including thirty-one females. In Jammu division, there are eighty-five candidates in fray for the fifteen DDC constituencies in this phase, including fifteen females in this final phase of the DDC polls, the SEC informed.
630443 electors (327168 male and 303275 female voters) are going to elect their representatives in all twenty-eight DDC constituencies, he said and added that a total of 1703 polling stations have been designated with 1028 in Kashmir division and 675 in Jammu division.
The SEC further informed that of 165 Sarpanch vacancies notified in the eighth phase, forty-three have been elected unopposed. There shall be a contest in eighty-four constituencies and 249 candidates including fifty-two females are in the fray, he added.
Similarly, he said that out of the total 1457 Panch vacancies notified in this phase, 496 have been elected unopposed while 285 constituencies will go for elections with 596 candidates contesting the elections including 156 female candidates.
The SEC said that all the requisite arrangements for this phase are in place including manpower, election material, and security arrangements in all the poll going areas.
Referring to the arrangements in place in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the SEC said adequate arrangements have been put in place to ensure the safety of all stakeholders including the voters coming to vote at the polling stations.
“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”, he added. (GNS)
