Polling for the second phase of District Development Council (DDC) elections has concluded on Tuesday.
Voting took place in 43 DDC constituencies-25 in Kashmir valley and 18 in Jammu division.
Bypolls to 83 Sarpanch seats and 331 panch seats were also held along with DDC polls.
The first phase of DDC election in Jammu and Kashmir saw 52% voter turnout on Saturday.
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Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), seeking the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status which was revoked by the Centre in August last year – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Apni Party floated by former finance minister Altaf Bukhari.
Notably, the Valley witnessed its first elections since the Centre scrapped Article 370 and bifurcated it into two Union Territories (UTs).
