Voting for sixth phase of panchayat polls begins in J&K

Polling for the sixth phase of the nine-phased panchayat election began at over 3,100 polling stations in Jammu and Kashmir Saturday, officials said.

Voting began at 8 am at 3,174 polling stations -- 410 in the Kashmir division and 2,764 in the Jammu division -- they added.

The officials said 771 polling stations -- 410 in the Kashmir division and 361 in the Jammu division -- were categorised as hypersensitive.

As many as 7,156 candidates were in the fray for 406 sarpanch and 2,277 panch seats in the sixth phase, while 111 sarpanches and 1,048 panches were elected unopposed, they added.

A total of 5,97,396 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise for the sarpanch constituencies and 4,57,581 for the panch constituencies, the officials said.

In the fifth phase of polling on November 29, the state had witnessed a voting percentage of 71.1, including 33.7 in the Kashmir division and 85.2 in the Jammu division.

In the fourth phase, the polling percentage was71.3, including 82.4 in the Jammu division and 32.3 in the Kashmir division.

In the third phase, the state had recorded a polling percentage of 75.2, including 55.7 in the Kashmir division and 83 in the Jammu division.

The voting percentage was 71.1 in the second phase with an overwhelming 80.4 per cent polling in the Jammu division and 52.2 per cent in the Kashmir division.

Similarly, in the first phase of polling on November 17, the voting percentage was 74.1, including 64.5 in the Kashmir division and 79.4 in the Jammu division.

The results for the first five phases have been announced by the respective returning officers.