2 DDC seats in Kashmir to undergo re-polls after 2 years

Srinagar: The Union Territory Election Commission on Wednesday ordered re-polling on
December 5 on two district development council seats of Kashmir Valley where counting was
earlier cancelled in 2020.
In two separate orders, State Election Commissioner Kewal Kumar Sharma has ordered that re-
polling would take place on December 5 in Hajin-A (Bandipora) and Drugmulla (Kupwara) from
7:00 am to 2:00 pm. The counting would take place on 8 December, the order stated.
The counting of votes in these segments was stopped on December 22 after it was found that two
contesting candidates were not Indian citizens.
According to the poll-body's orders, Soomia Sadaf (contesting candidate from Drugmulla) and
Shazia Begum (contesting candidate from Hajin-A) had entered wrong information in a
declaration about their citizenship in Form-6 during registration as electors.
In March 2021, the poll-body declared the polling in the DDC Constituency Drugmulla held on 7
December 2020 and DDC constituency Hajin-A held 19 December 2020 as void and cancelled
the candidature of Soomia Sadaff and Shazia Begum. It had then ordered that the re-poll shall be
held by re-drawing the list of contesting candidates after dropping the name of these two
candidates.
“The re-poll shall be conducted under the applicable election rules/guidelines, on date to be
notified by the Election Authority, through a separate order,” the poll-body had said.