TIL Desk/National/Srinagar/ Over 22 per cent polling was recorded till 11 am in the first ever District Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, with Samba district recording the highest voting percentage at 36.40 and Pulwama the lowest at 3.51 so far, officials said.
The eight-phase DDC polls are also the maiden elections in Jammu and Kashmir since it was reorganised as a union territory last year, and it is being held along with byelections to panchayats. “The first phase of the DDC elections recorded a voter percentage of 22.12 per cent across different constituencies spread over all districts of Jammu and Kashmir till 11:00 am,” an official said.
Polling is underway in different blocks since 7 am and there is no immediate report of any untoward incident. It is scheduled to end at 2 pm, the official said. The DDC election is being seen as a triangular contest among the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, the BJP and the Apni Party floated by former finance minister Altaf Bukhari. In the first phase, as many as 1,475 candidates are in the fray, according to officials.
