Civic polls in Jammu and Kashmir Phase 1: Top 10 Facts You Need To Know

Civic polls in Jammu and Kashmir election 2018 first phase: The first phase of the urban local bodies elections in Jammu and Kashmir which began on Monday at 7 am amid tight security.

In Jammu and Kashmir, voting for the first phase of Urban Local Body elections ended peacefully on Monday evening. In this phase, polling was held for 422 wards spread across all the three regions – Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh where 6,11,244 voters has to decide the fate of 1,283 candidates contesting the elections.

Here is your 10-point on J-K Municipal Elections 2018 first phase:

1. The polling for urban local body elections in Jammu and Kashmir was held in 11 districts across the state on Monday. Till 4 pm, a total voter turnout of 63.83% was recorded, with Kargil recording the highest voter turnout at 78.2%. While the Jammu region witnessed a brisk turnout, that recorded in the Valley was much on the lower side.
2. In Jammu Division, polling was held in 238 wards which include 153 wards in Jammu district followed by 59 in Rajouri district and 26 wards in Poonch district. In Jammu district, around 64 per cent polling was recorded in 153 wards whereas 81 per cent polling was recorded from 59 wards of border district of Rajouri.
3.  In 26 wards of border district of Poonch, 74 per cent electors had cast their votes. No untoward incident was reported from any part of the Jammu division.
4. Chief Electoral Officer informed that 32.3 per cent voter turnout is recorded in Kupwara district of Kashmir division while Kargil recorded 78.2 per cent till 4 PM. Leh recorded 55.2 per cent voter turnout till 4 PM.
5. In the Kashmir region, the polling percentage recorded was:# Anantnag – 7.3%
   # Budgam – 17%
   # Bandipore – 3.4%
   # Baramulla – 5.1%
   # Kupwara – 32.3%
   # Srinagar – 6.2%
   About 85,000 voters which include 40,800 women are eligible for voting in the valley. Of 30,074 voters in three wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, nealy 1,500 have turned up in polling stations.
6. The Jammu region, however, witnessed a brisk voter turnout with Jammu at 63.8%, Poonch at 73.1% and Rajouri at 81%. In the Ladakh region, 55.2% voter turnout was recorded in Leh while 78.2% turnout was recorded in Kargil.
7. Voting was held amid tight security in 321 municipal wards across 11 districts – three in the Jammu region, two in Ladakh and six in Kashmir valley – to decide the political fate of 1,204 candidates.
8. In today’s phase, voting took place in 75 wards in the Jammu municipal corporation, 79 in seven municipal committees in the Jammu district, 63 in five municipal committees in Rajouri, 30 in two municipal committees in Poonch and 13 each in municipal committees in Leh and Kargil.
9. Polling was held for only 83 wards in the valley Monday as 69 were won uncontested.In north Kashmir, the Kupwara Municipal Committee recorded a high voter turnout of 36.6 per cent, while Handwara Municipal Committee recorded a voter turnout of 27.8 per cent.
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10. Despite the civic polls being abandoned by the majority in Kashmir Valley, an overall voter turnout of 68.83% was recorded due to the unprecedented voter-participation in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu. Muslim Voters in Jammu Defy Poll Boycott Call; Slam NC, PDP.

As many as 2,990 candidates are in the fray for the four-phased elections covering a total of 1,145 wards, including the municipal corporations for the twin capitals of Jammu and Srinagar.

As many as 2,137 candidates are in fray from Jammu, 787 from Kashmir and 66 from Ladakh.

In all the four phases, as many as 244 candidates — 231 in Kashmir and 13 in Jammu — have been declared elected unopposed.

[With inputs from online reports]