JAMMU: The third phase of District Development Council polls are being held today across Jammu and Kashmir amid strict security arrangements.
State Election Commissioner K K Sharma said that voting will be conducted in 33 constituencies, including 16 from Kashmir and 17 from Jammu. The polling will start from 7 am to 2 pm.
He said that there are total 305 candidates in the electoral fray including 166 from Kashmir division and 139 from Jammu division for DDC elections. Out of 305 candidates 252 are male whereas 53 are female candidates.
Regarding Sarpanch by-polls, Sharma said that out of 126 constituencies, polling shall take place in 66 constituencies and a total of 184 candidates are contesting including 144 male and 40 female candidates. Forty Sarpanch constituencies have been filled unopposed.
Similarly, in Panch by-elections, he informed that there are 1738 constituencies, and out of them 798 have been elected unopposed. Polling shall take place in 327 constituencies and there are 749 candidates are in fray.
State Election Commissioner informed that 737648 electors are eligible to cast their votes which includes 385675 males and 351973 females. He also said that out of these 737648 voters 374604 are from Jammu division and 363044 are from Kashmir division. He also said that 2046 polling stations including 792 in Jammu division and 1254 in Kashmir division, have been setup for the conduct of elections in a smooth manner.
Sharma said that all the arrangements about elections have been completed including manpower, election material and security arrangements. He said that adequate security arrangements have been made in all the poll going areas.
Regarding the SOPs related to COVID 19 pandemic, the SEC urged the people to follow the guideline issued by the Commission besides wearing face masks and maintaining social distance during polling. He also said that sanitizers, thermal scanner and face masks have been arranged at the polling stations.
Special polling stations at Women College Gandhi Nagar, Jammu and Girls Higher Secondary School Udhampur have been setup to facilitate physical voting by Kashmiri Migrants.
The SEC appealed the people to come forward and participate in the festival of democracy and urged them to go to their polling stations and cast their vote.
It is pertinent to mention that DDC Elections & Panchayat By-Polls 2020 are being held in 8 phases commencing from 28 November to 19 December. The counting of votes shall be conducted on December 22.

KR Desk