New Delhi: The counting of votes began today to decide the fate of 2,178 candidates for the District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The counting of votes started in all the districts from 9 am.
Live Updates : 11:35 am: Leads
PAGD 23 (Lead 22, Won 1)
BJP 38
INC 7
JKAP 4
OTHER 1
Voting took place for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir after the removal of Article 370, in which voters overwhelmingly participated. Explain that there are 280 DDC seats in each of the 20 districts of the union territory. The voting was held in eight phases starting from 28 November and ended on 19 December. Out of 57 lakh eligible voters, 51 percent exercised their franchise in the election. The elections were concluded in a peaceful manner.
Explain that 7 Kashmir-focused mainstream political parties, including the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party, contested in a coalition under the banner of the People’s Alliance for Guptur Declaration (PAGD) after the restoration of Article 370.
The Congress was initially a part of this alliance, but later distanced itself from the alliance, as the BJP targeted the opposition party for being in league with the ‘Gupkar gang’. Although the Congress contested the elections in the last 7 phases alone, it is believed that they have retained their understanding with the gang.
Tough competition between BJP-Gupta alliance
In the J&K DDC election, the main contest is between the BJP, Congress and the People’s Alliance for Guptkar Declaration. However, every party is claiming its victory. At the same time, BJP says whether to beat or not to beat anyone in the Kashmir Valley, they will definitely defeat Congress. In these elections, 7 political parties belonging to the mainstream of Kashmir including National Conference and People’s Democratic Party had formed a secret alliance.
4180 candidates decide their fate
In these elections, voting took place in 8 phases for a total of 280 seats and a total of 4181 candidates were in the fray, whose future will be decided today. Out of these, the number of male candidates is 3 thousand 731, while there are 450 female candidates.