16.97 lakh electors eligible to vote in 4-phased J&K local body polls

Around 17 lakh electors are eligible to vote in the four-phased local body and municipal polls in Jammu and Kashmir from October 8, an election department official said.

Two major regional players National Conference (NC) and People's Democratic Party (PDP) - have boycotted the urban local body (ULB) and panchayat polls in the state.

"As many as 16,97,291 electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in 1,145 wards across the state of J&K in four phases from October 8," a senior election department officer told PTI.

Out of the total 1,145 wards of municipality and local bodies, 90 wards have been reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 38 for Scheduled Tribes (ST), which include 31 and 13 wards reserved for SC and ST women, respectively, he said.

In addition to this, 322 wards have been reserved for women belonging to open category, the officer said.

The Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has the highest number of 6,63,775 electors with 74 wards followed by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) with 75 wards and 4,00,301 electors, he said.

The first phase of polling will be undertaken on October 8, followed by the second phase on October 10, third phase on October 13 and the fourth and final phase on October 16, the election officer said.

The counting of votes will be taken up on October 20.

Even as posters displaying the names of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress candidates besides the Independents came up in Jammu, the poll officials refused to disclose the details of candidates in the Kashmir Valley.

The campaigning for the local body polls in Jammu saw a slow start, but is expected to pick up in the days to come.