First phase of urban local body elections in J&K conclude peacefully

In Jammu and Kashmir, voting for the first phase of Urban Local Body elections concluded peacefully this evening. In this phase, polling was held for 422 wards spread across all the three regions- Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.

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. However,  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. 

Chief Electoral Officer informed that 32.2 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.  

The Election Commission said, these are approximate figures and exact poll percentage will be published after the polling parties report back.  No major untoward incident was reported in Kashmir barring minor clashes in Srinagar area. 

The Chief Electoral Officer Shaleen Kabra said that overall polling percentage across the state in the 1st phase of Municipal Polls has been recorded 56.7 percent. Kargil recorded highest 78.2 percent and Leh recorded 55.2 percent in 26 wards. The highest voter turnout was recorded at 32.2 percent in 18 wards of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. With the conclusion of first phase, the fate of 204 candidates including 66 in Ladakh and 8 in Srinagar has been sealed in EVMs.