Several voters in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on Saturday said that the District Development Council (DDC) polls are to elect people who can solve basic problems and “bigger issues” like restoration of special status should be left for assembly and parliamentary elections. The eight-phase DDC polls are the first elections in Jammu and Kashmir since it was reorganised as a union territory last year after the abrogation of its special status, and it is being held along with bypolls to panchayats.
The first phase was held across Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday and over 22 per cent of the seven lakh voters had exercised their franchise till 11 am. Two DDC seats — Gund-A and Gund-B — went to polls in the central Kashmir district, which recorded a polling percentage of 23.14 till 11 am.
“Political issues are for bigger platforms like the assembly or the Parliament. What role do the DDCs or for that matter panches and sarpanches have in framing laws. This is a small platform…