Aatif Qayoom/ Shafat Malik
The Nationalconference and Apni party-backed independent candidates emerged victorious in District Development Council elections held in twin DDC constituencies in Drugmulla and Hajin on December 5.
As per the reports, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party-backed independent candidate Naza Begum secured a win in the much-talked-about Hajin-A DDC seat of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district by defeating her rival candidate with 423 votes.
As per the details available with Rising Kashmir, out of a total of 8690 votes, Naza Begum bagged 2706 votes, while the People’s Conference was declared the second largest party with 2283 votes, followed by the National Conference-backed independent candidate with 2178 votes, the BharatiyaJanata Party with 387 votes, and independent candidate Zahida Begum with 315 votes, while 813 votes were declared invalid.
In a close race, an independent candidate backed by the NC defeated the candidate of the People’s Conference by a narrow margin of 39 votes. The NC-backed candidate Aamina Majeed got 3259 votes, while her opponent got 3220 votes.
The Apni party was victorious in Hajin A seat and secured the 3rd position in the Drugmulla seat by taking 1474 votes; similarly, the INC candidate got 746, the BJP got 877, and 9 votes were rejected.
The DDC elections were conducted in Jammu and Kashmir in December 2020. However, due to the disputed eligibility of two contestants, the counting of votes was suspended in Drugmulla in Kupwara and Hajin-A in Bandipora.
Subsequently, the state election commission (SEC) declared the voting in these districts null and void, annulling the candidatures of SoomiaSadaf and Shazia Aslam, citing inaccurate data concerning the place of origin of the individuals from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
