New Delhi: Counting of votes for the first-ever District Development Council (DDC) elections, which concluded on December 19, began at 9 am on Tuesday at all district headquarters across the Union Territory amid tight security.
Section 144 has been imposed by the administration in Doda to maintain the law and order situation. Three-tier security arrangements have been made to ensure free fair and smooth counting of votes. Counting agents of different political parties reached the centres.
State Election Commissioner KK Sharma said on Monday said that all necessary arrangements have been made for Tuesday’s counting of votes in Jammu and Kashmir.
UPDATES:
Jammu and Kashmir: Rehan Parvez of PDP wins from Eidgah Srinagar in the Urban Local Body elections.
"This was expected. People have shown their support. I'll be working for the development in the area," she says. pic.twitter.com/AjDcMHOos0
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
Third victory for BJP in Kashmir.
Smt Mina Lateef won the seat from Kakapora-B Pulwama. This marks a paradigm shift in the politics of Kashmir.@BJP4India @BJP4JnK— Syed Shahnawaz Hussain (@ShahnawazBJP) December 22, 2020
BJP has opened its account in Kashmir valley, with the victory of Azaz Hussain. We are leading on several other seats in the Valley. It shows people of Kashmir valley want development: BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain on results of #DDCElections https://t.co/i14WMzcukr pic.twitter.com/njcA2d2jiX
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
Out of 14 DDC seats in Srinagar, Independents have won 7 seats, Apni Party emerged victorious at 3 seats, & one seat each by BJP, PDP, National Conference, Jammu & Kashmir People's Movement: Srinagar District Election Officer Dr Shahid Choudhary (file photo)#DDCElections pic.twitter.com/hjXvQhCLLD
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
Jammu Division
BJP: 62
Gupkar: 23
Apni Party: 01
Cong: 17
Oth: 37
Entire J&K
Gupkar: 90
BJP: 65
Apni Party: 12
Cong: 29
Oth: 72
We fought against PAGD candidate and BJP emerged victorious at this seat (Balhama seat in Srinagar) today. I congratulate people of Jammu and Kashmir & the security forces: Azaz Hussain, BJP candidate from Balhama, Srinagar#DDCElections pic.twitter.com/MFYMcouVfC
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
Jammu and Kashmir: Counting of votes for 280 constituencies of District Development Council (DDC) underway at Sher-I Kashmir International Conference Centre in Srinagar.
Visuals of heavy security deployment outside the counting centre. pic.twitter.com/li1S54vJaI
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
Sharma had also chaired the review meeting which was attended by all deputy commissioners (DCs) of Jammu and Kashmir through video conferencing while Secretary State Election Commission and other senior election officers attended the meeting in person.
The SEC said that the process in each centre will be supervised by a Returning Officer and Assistant Returning Officer. “The counting exercise will be recorded by CCTV cameras and will be overseen by observers also,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir: Counting of votes for 280 constituencies of District Development Council (DDC) to begin shortly; visuals from outside the counting centre in Doda district. pic.twitter.com/zgMYT73wA4
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
He said the counting will begin with the opening of ballot boxes and subsequently, these will be made into bundles of 25 each and compared with the actual number of votes polled in each polling station. The bundles will then be mixed together as per the counting guidelines.
Each hall will have dedicated tables and each table with counting assistants monitored by one counting supervisor. The SEC also said that COVID-19 protocols will be followed during the counting process.
