‘77 Sarpanch, 334 Panch seats to witness voting for Panchayat by-elections’
JAMMU, DECEMBER 12: 31 Constituencies are set to go for polling in the sixth phase of ongoing District Development Council (DDC) polls and 334 Panch and 77 Sarpanch seats will also witness voting on December 13, 2020 across Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing an evening press conference here, State Election Commissioner (SEC), KK Sharma informed that a total of 31 DDC constituencies will go to polls including 14 seats from Kashmir division and 17 from Jammu division.
Giving further details, the SEC said that against the 14 DDC constituencies of Kashmir division going to poll tomorrow, there are 124 candidates in fray including 47 females. In Jammu division, there are 121 candidates in fray for the 17 DDC constituencies in this phase, including 53 females.
748301 electors (390432 male and 357869 female voters) are going to elect their representatives in all 31 DDC constituencies, he said and added that a total of 2071 polling stations have been designated with 1208 in Kashmir division and 863 in Jammu division.
The SEC further informed that of 127 Sarpanch vacancies notified in the 6th phase, 37 have been elected unopposed. There shall be a contest in 77 constituencies and 229 candidates including 65 females are in fray, he added.
Similarly, he said that out of the total 1548 Panch vacancies notified in this phase, 334 constituencies will go for elections with 740 candidates contesting the elections including 180 female candidates.
The SEC said that all the requisite arrangements for this phase are in place including man power, election material and security arrangements in all poll going areas.
While 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 safety of all stakeholders including the voters coming to vote at the polling stations. He further said that 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.
