Massive voter turnout in Panchayat polls in Jammu

Jammu district witnessed massive voter turnout by registering 64.9 per cent voting till 12 pm in the eighth phase of Panchayat elections on Saturday.

The voters had also come out in large numbers to use their franchise by braving cold waves in Samba (64.8 per cent), Kathua (63.5 per cent), Reasi (62 per cent), Rajouri (60.5) and Baramulla (43.6) districts.

Due to snowfall and harsh climatic conditions, the voting turnout was recorded low in Bandipora (10.8 per cent), Kupwara (33.7 per cent), Srinagar (7.7 per cent) and Budgam (6.5 per cent). Till 10 am, the voter turnout in Jammu was 29.8 per cent while in Samba 29.7 per cent.

As many as 43 Sarpanches and 681 Panches have been elected unopposed during the current phase of Panchayat polling. Elections for the rest of 331 Sarpanch and 2,007 Panch seats are taking place with 6,304 candidates in the fray.

For smooth voting, the State Election Commission (SEC) has set up 2,083 polling stations in Jammu division, and 550 in Kashmir Valley. The SEC has also deployed scores of government officers as general observers to supervise the entire voting process.

The ninth and final phase of panchayat elections is scheduled to take place on December 11. Last Panchayat polls in the state took place in 2011. The counting of votes is done after the polling concludes.