JAMMU: State Election Commissioner K.K Sharma today held a press conference and briefed the media about the arrangements being done to conduct the DDC elections and Panchs/Sarpanchs by-polls in smooth and peaceful manner. While giving the details regarding District Development Council elections, the SEC said that there are total 280 constituencies in UT of J&K (14 in each district) out of which voting will be conducted in 43 constituencies from 7 am to 2 pm in phase I. He further informed that total 296 candidates are in electoral fray including 207 male and 89 female candidates for DDC elections in Phase I. Regarding Sarpanchs by-poll elections, KK Sharma said that the sarpanchs election will be conducted in 94 constituencies and total 279 candidates (203 males, 76 females) are contesting in phase I. Similarly, in Panchs by-poll elections, which are going to be held in 368 constituencies, total 852 candidates are in electoral fray out of which 635 are male and 217 are female candidates. He also informed that 768 Panchs including 36 Sarpanchs have been elected unopposed. State Election Commissioner further informed that more than 67 lakh voters in J&K who are eligible to cast their votes out of which 7 lakh voters shall use their right to vote in phase I. He also said that out of 7 lakh voters more tha 3 lakh 72 thousand are from Kashmir division and 3 lakh 28 thousand are from Jammu division. He also said that 2146 polling stations have been setup to conduct the elections of Phase I in smooth manner. The SEC said that all the arrangements regarding elections have been completed besides man power, election material and security arrangements have also been already put in place. He said that adequate security arrangements with the deployment of security forces have been done. Regarding the SOPs related to COVID 19 pandemic, the SEC urged the people to follow the guideline issued by the Election Commission besides put their face masks and maintain the social distance during polling. He also said that sanitizers, thermal scanner and face masks shall also be provided to the voters, in case they forget to carry their own face masks/ sanitizers. The SEC appealed to the people to come forward to participate in the biggest 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 28th November to 19th December. The counting of votes shall be conducted on 22nd of December.
