Campaigning ends for first phase in J&K

Srinagar/Jammu, November 26

Campaigning for the first phase of the District Development Council (DDC) polls and byelections to local bodies in Jammu and Kashmir ended on Thursday evening, officials said.

Voting will decide the fate of 1,475 candidates in this phase which will take place on Saturday from 7 am to 2 pm. Officials said campaigning took place in a peaceful manner and there was no untoward incident. Out of the 1,475 candidates, 296 are contesting in the maiden DDC polls in the UT, they said, adding 172 are from the Kashmir valley and 124 from the Jammu region. In the first phase of the eight-phased DDC polls, 43 constituencies will go to polls — 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu, the officials said. For the bypolls to panchayats, 899 candidates are in the fray for Panch seats and 280 for the sarpanch seats. As many as 2,644 polling stations have been set up and there are 7,03,620 electors for this phase, the officials said. — PTI

Booths to be set up for kashmiri migrants

State Election CommissionerKK Sharma on Wednesday directed for setting up of special polling booths for Kashmiri migrants in Jammu and Udhampur so that they could effectively exercise their right to vote in the ensuing DDC elections.