SOURCE: INDIA TODAY
In a press release on Friday, Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani called for a “complete boycott” of the District Development Council (DDC) elections scheduled to take place in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.
The press release raised concerns over the “design of demographic changes”, “land grabs”, economy and livelihood. It read, “All the people and political parties contesting or participating in these elections are acting against the freedom movement.”
The first phase of the DDC elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. This will be the first electoral exercise in J&K since the abrogation of Article 370. These are also the first DDC elections because J&K didn’t have the three-tier Panchayati Raj System before the abrogation of Article 370.
Forty-three constituencies — 25 in the Kashmir Valley and 18 in the Jammu region — are going to the polls in the first phase in which about 7 lakh voters will decide the fate of 296 candidates. Polling will take place from 7 am to 2 pm under strict Covid-safety protocols. Overall, polling will be held for 280 DDC constituencies in 8 phases.
