Polling for the first phase of District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir concluded amid tight security on Saturday. The polling ended at 2 pm.
In the first phase of the DDC elections, 43 constituencies went to polls — 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu.
Notably, the Valley witnessed its first elections since the Centre scrapped Article 370 and bifurcated it into two Union Territories (UTs).
As many as 1,475 candidates are in the fray for the first phase of the polls, according to the sources.
The elections are seen as a triangular contest between the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) – an amalgam of several mainstream political parties, including the National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seeking the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status which was revoked by the Centre in August last year – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Apni Party floated by former finance minister Altaf Bukhari.
