LUBNA FAYAZ
Srinagar (NVI): The Jammu and Kashmir Election Commission today announced the first ever District Development Council (DDC) polls to be held in eight phases from November 28.
“The DDC elections will be held from November 28 in eight phases and will conclude on December 22,” said KK Sharma, J&K Election Commissioner while addressing a press conference in Jammu.
“Along with the DDC pols, by-elections for the vacant sarpanch and panchayat seats will also be conducted simultaneously. Polling will happen through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and postal ballots will also be available for Covid-19 patients in isolation, senior citizens and differently-abled persons,” he said.
“With today’s announcement regarding elections, model code of conduct is in vogue from today itself. The first formal notification for the first phase of elections will be issued tomorrow (on Thursday),” Sharma added.
Interestingly, KK Sharma was recently appointed as first Election Commissioner of J&K EC.
Speaking about delimitation, he said, “the process has been completed for all the constituencies. Also, 280 DDCs have been identified across the J&K UT for the process.”
“The term of the DDC will be for five years and West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs) will also be entitled to exercise their right to vote for the first time,” he said, adding, “Each DDC in Jammu and Kashmir has 14 constituencies and all arrangments for conducting the elections have been finalised. COVID-19 protocol will be followed religously.”
Sharma further said that the elections for 228 vacant seats of ULBs will also be held subsequently.
“After taking the feedback from various security agencies, a proper security mechanism will be in place and all concerns have been addressed,” he said.
-ARK
