Polling for the first phase of the maiden District Development Council (DDC) election in Jammu & Kashmir started on Saturday, officials said.  Because of the cold weather, little eagerness was seen at the polling stations as the voting began at 7 am, officlas said. The polling has commenced for the DDC polls and bypolls to panchyats and urban local bodies across Jammu and Kashmir for the first phase of the eight-phase process, the officials said.

There was a tepid response to the polling in the valley due to the chilly weather, however, the turnout is expected to increase as the temperature would increase later in the day, they said. As many as 1,475 candidates are in the fray for the first phase of the polls, the officials said.

Out of these, 296 candidates are contesting the first phase of the DDC polls in the union territory, they said, adding 172 were from the Kashmir valley and 124 from the Jammu region. In the first phase of the DDC elections, 43 constituencies will go to polls, including 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu, For the bypolls to Panchayats, 899 candidates are in the fray for the Panch seats and 280 for the sarpanch seats. A total of 2,644 polling stations have been set up and there are 7,03,620 electors for this phase. The bypolls are also being held for four wards of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation and the municipal bodies of Pahalgam and Aishmuqam in Anantnag district. The voting for the first phase will end at 2 pm, they said.

 There are 280 DDC seats in the Union Territory including 140 each in Jammu and Kashmir regions, the officials said. Fourteen constituencies have been earmarked in each of the 20 districts of the UT, they said. The bypolls to the 12,153 Panchayat constituencies are also taking place along with the DDC polls.

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