news details |
|
|
| SEC says that necessary arrangements made in all districts | | Counting of votes on 280 DDC seats today | |  Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Dec 21: Fate of nearly 4,200 candidates for the 280 District Development Council (DDC) seats in Jammu and Kashmir will be decided on Tuesday as counting of votes will begin at 9 am in all 20 districts of the Union territory.
State Election Commissioner (SEC) KK Sharma said that all necessary arrangements have been made for counting in all the constituencies. Officials in the State Election Commission told Early Times that 4,181 candidates, including over 450 women are in the fray for the 280 DDC seats.
The elections to this third tier of the Panchayati Raj system were held for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir and were the first mass polls after the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 in August 2019.
The polling was held over eight phases beginning November 28 and ending on December 19. 51 percent of 57 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise in the elections, which were largely peaceful.
Seven Kashmir-centric mainstream political parties, including the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, contested the polls in an alliance under the banner of the Peoples’ Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD). The Congress was initially a part of the PAGD but distanced itself from the alliance as the BJP targeted the opposition party for being in league with the ‘Gupkar Gang’.
Although the Congress went alone in the last seven phases, it is widely believed that its understanding with the PAGD remains intact. The PAGD is expected to emerge as the single largest group followed by the BJP in a close second position while the Congress is expected to fill the third position.
State Election Commissioner K K Sharma said that the Returning Officers will be in-charge of the counting process for each DDC constituency. “The entire counting exercise will be monitored and recorded to achieve full transparency,” Sharma told Early Times.
He said counting of ballot papers would be taken up on a round-wise basis after proper mixing of ballot papers from different polling stations as per the prescribed procedure and counting guidelines. On the implementation of necessary COVID-19 protocols, Sharma said directions have already been issued to concerned deputy commissioners to adhere to corona virus standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the counting process.
He said that the entire counting exercise will be monitored and recorded to achieve full transparency. The Commission has issued detailed guidelines under the Panchayati Raj Rules 1996 and prescribed elaborate procedure on the counting of ballot papers. The handbook of returning officers also contains the relevant instructions on counting of votes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
