Agencies
Amid terror threats and boycott calls by separatist groups and the two main regional parties, the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polling for the first phase of civic body elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on Monday morning.The voting, which is being held at 820 polling stations across the state, will continue till 4 pm.
The civic polls are being held in the state after a gap of 13 years. The last elections were conducted in 2005, with all municipal bodies completing their five-year term in 2010.
According to the state election authority, at least 150 polling stations have been designated for voting in Kashmir division and 670 in Jammu province.
“In Kashmir division, 138 polling stations have been categorised as hypersensitive while in Jammu division, 52 polling stations are hypersensitive,” it said, adding that for the Phase-I, 78 candidates have already been elected unopposed.
As many as 1204 candidates are contesting for 321 municipal wards in Phase-I, including 83 in Kashmir division and 238 in Jammu division.
“The total electorate for Phase-I is 5,86,064,” it said.
In the three poll-bound districts of Jammu region, over 6,000 jawans of police and paramilitary have been deployed for the smooth conduct of polling. |
