Jammu, Dec 15 (IANS): A total of 31 constituencies are set to go to the polls in the seventh phase of the ongoing District Development Council (DDC) elections, while 438 panch and 69 sarpanch seats will also witness voting on Wednesday across Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference, State Election Commissioner (SEC) K.K. Sharma informed that a total of 31 DDC constituencies will go to the polls on Wednesday, 13 in Kashmir division and 18 in Jammu division.

Giving further details, the SEC said that for the 13 DDC constituencies in Kashmir division going to the polls on Wednesday, there are 148 candidates in the fray including 34 females. In Jammu division, there are 150 candidates in the fray for the 18 DDC constituencies, including 38 females.

A total of 6,87,115 electors (3,59,187 males and 3,27,928 females) are going to elect their representatives in all the 31 DDC constituencies. As many as 1,852 polling stations have been designated for the polling, 1,068 in Kashmir division and 784 in Jammu division.

The SEC further informed that of the 117 sarpanch vacancies notified in the seventh phase, 30 have been elected unopposed. There shall be contest in 69 constituencies and 231 candidates, including 79 females, are in the fray, he added.

Similarly, he said that out of the total 1,270 panch vacancies notified in this phase, 416 were elected unopposed, and 438 constituencies will go to the polls with 1,000 candidates, including 287 female candidates.

The SEC said that all the requisite arrangements for this phase are in place, including man power, election materials and security arrangements in all the poll-bound areas.

Referring to the arrangements in place in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the SEC said that adequate arrangements have been put in place to ensure safety of all the stakeholders. Sanitisers, thermal scanners and face masks have been arranged at the polling stations to ensure that the SOPs issued by the concerned authorities are strictly followed at the polling stations, he added.