Srinagar: In the midst of tight security and severe cold climate polling started on Saturday for the first phase of the District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir. Huge crowds were seen in South Kashmir’s Krerva.
95-year-old Letha Kohli at Faqir Gujri on the outskirts of Srinagar who has voted for numerous elections in the past said elections will serve to bring relief to the individuals.
Kohli said: “Elections will help to end poverty in our area, this will pave way for the creation of more roads in our area.”
At certain locations polling was slow yet at others like Krerva in the Shopian region a sizeable number of individuals lined up outside the polling booths.
A voter stated: “Kreva in Shopian district is a very remote area, we have come out to vote for the development of our area.”
Polling started at 7 a.m. and will happen till 2 p.m. The DDC elections are being conducted in five phases. For 43 constituencies in the initial phase, a sum of 296 candidates are in the fray- 172 from Kashmir and 124 from Jammu.
Following the revocation of Article 370, the Centre amended the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Raj Act-1989 to make way for district development council polls in the union territory.
Because of the chilly climate, little enthusiasm was observed at the polling stations as the voting started at 7 am, they said.
The polling has started for the DDC polls and by-polls to panchayats and urban local bodies over Jammu and Kashmir for the initial phase of the eight-phase process, the officials stated.
There was a lukewarm reaction to the polling in the valley because of the cold climate, in any case, the turnout is relied upon to increase as the temperature would increase later in the day, they said.
A total number of 2,644 polling stations have been set up and there are 7,03,620 electors for this phase, the officials stated.
