The first ever elections to the Block Development Councils (BDCs) in the State were held today peacefully, recording an overall turnout of 98.3 per cent. Individuals bagged the chairmanship of majority of Block Councils, followed by Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), JKNPP and Congress.Addressing a press conference here, Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, Shailendra Kumar, who is also Election Authority under J&K Panchayat Raj Act 1989, said Srinagar district witnessed the highest poll percentage of 100 percent while southern districts of Shopian and Pulwama recorded lowest percentage of 85.3 and 86.2 percents respectively in Kashmir Division.He further said that Independent candidates bagged a maximum number of blocks with 217 followed by BJP with 81 blocks, JKNPP 08 and Indian National Congress (INC) 1.In Kashmir Division, he said, out of 128 blocks, independents got 109 blocks while BJP bagged 18 and INC 1. Similarly, in Jammu Division, independents bagged 88 blocks followed by BJP with 52 and JKNPP 08. In Ladakh Division, independent candidates got 20 while BJP bagged 11 blocks in the elections.
Out of 316 blocks, the elections for chairmanship of BDCs were conducted on 280 blocks while 27 block councils were elected unopposed, he told the press conference.CEO, J&K said polling started at 9 and ended at 1 pm while the counting of the votes was done from 3 pm onwards.He appreciate all divisional and districts administrations, besides security officials and other concerned for the conduct of successful and peaceful polls in J&K.He added that the Returning Officers will issue a certification of the results on October 25, 2019 (Friday) and the result notification would be uploaded on Chief Electoral Officer's website.Secretary Rural Development Department, Sheetal Nanda, Deputy Inspector General of Police (CKR), VK Birdi, Director Information and Public Relations, Dr Syed Sehrish Asgar and Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary were present on the occasion.Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Sanjeev Sharma other concerned officials and media persons attended the press conference via video link.