Peaceful polling in J&K panchayat polls 8th phase

Peaceful polling was recorded on Saturday in the 8th phase of the panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir, a poll official said.

No untoward incident was reported from any of the 2,633 polling stations -- 550 in Kashmir and 2,083 in Jammu -- where voting started at 8 a.m. and ended at 2 p.m. under tight security.

The overall voter turnout for the state was 80 per cent while it was 85.1 per cent in Jammu division and 49.7 per cent in the valley.

At least 361 polling stations had been categorised as hypersensitive -- 171 in Kashmir and 190 in Jammu.

A total of 6,304 candidates were in the fray for 331 sarpanch and 2,007 panch seats in this phase while 43 sarpanches and 681 panches had been elected unopposed.

Photo Voter Slips had been distributed among the people to inform them of their polling station.

By the end of the seventh phase that took place on December 4, an overall voter turnout of 73.8 per cent had been recorded across the state, with a poll percentage of 44.4 per cent in Kashmir and 83.2 per cent in Jammu.

The last day of polling in the nine-phased elections is December 11.

Panchayat polls were last held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2011.

--IANS

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