J-K DDC polls: Over 26 per cent votes polled till 11 am

The sixth phase of the District Development Council (DDC) elections recorded 26.11 per cent voter turnout till 11 am across 31 constituencies spread over different districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, officials said. The polling is going on smoothly across the union territory and there was no untoward incident reported from anywhere so far, they said. As per the figures released by the office of the State Election Commissioner, Jammu Division recorded 34.77 per cent while Kashmir Division registered an overall polling percentage of 15.98 per cent up to 11 am.

In Jammu Division, where most parts were engulfed by dense fog early in the morning, the enthusiastic voters thronged the polling stations at various places before the start of the voting at 7 am to exercise their franchise. Samba and Poonch districts were leading the voter turnout chart till 11 am, recording 39.20 per cent voting each, followed by Rajouri at 38.28 per cent, Reasi (37.54), Jammu (36.0), Ramban (34.18), Udhampur (32.47), Kathua (31.03), Doda (28.79), the officials said. Similarly, in Kashmir Division, where most parts are reeling under sub-zero temperatures after the recent snowfall, Bandipora recorded a voter turnout of 29.39, followed by Ganderbal (24.61), Kupwara (23.50), Kulgam (19.53), Budgam (17.68), Baramulla (15.62), Anantnag (11.74), Pulwama (5.11) and Shopian (2.06) till 11 am, they said.

In the sixth phase of the DDC polls, voting is being held in 31 DDC constituencies -- 14 from Kashmir Division and 17 from Jammu Division. For smooth conduct of the elections, 2,071 polling stations, 1,208 in Kashmir Division and 863 in Jammu Division have been set up in this phase, where 7,48,301 electors (3,90,432 male and 3,57,869 female voters) will exercise their right to franchise. The polling is scheduled to conclude at 2 pm, the officials said.