Amit Shah lauds mass participation in DDC polls, thanks people for reposing faith in BJP

On Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah thanked the people of Jammu and Kashmir for propelling BJP as the single-largest party in the recently concluded DDC polls. According to him, conducting the District Development Council election was a testimony of the Centre's commitment to restore grassroots democracy in the Union Territory. Lauding the great voter turnout in the polls, he also hailed the security forces and local administration for successfully holding these polls. Moreover, he reiterated that BJP shall continue to work towards J&K's development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Read: Chidambaram Sees 'good Signs' In DDC Polls Results After Congress Wins 26 Of 118 Contested

Read: MoS Anurag Thakur Reacts To DDC Results, Says J&K Wants To Write History Of 'New Kashmir' 

Gupkar alliance wins maximum seats

The DDC election was conducted in 8 phases between November 28 and December 19, with a voter turnout of 51.42%. It was the first big election held after the revocation of J&K's special status. Requisite amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act 1989 and J&K Panchayati Raj Rules 1996 enabled the setting up of District Development Councils. The DDC which will have a term of 5 years replaces the District Planning and Development Boards which were headed by a Cabinet Minister of the erstwhile state of J&K. 

The People's Alliance for Gupkar Alliance emerged as the single-largest coalition by winning 110 seats. Its constituents- NC, PDP, JKPC, CPI(M) and JKPM bagged 67, 27, 8, 5 and three seats respectively. After winning 26 seats in the DDC election, Congress too has decided to support the opposition alliance. On the other hand, BJP too made inroads in the Union Territory by becoming the single-largest party with 75 seats. However, the newly formed Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) could not make a substantive impact gaining only 12 seats.

Independents too made a major dent with 50 seats. As per BJP's DDC polls in-charge Anurag Thakur, the combined vote share of BJP and Independents amounts to a little over 52%. Speaking exclusively with Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami on Tuesday, the MoS Finance asserted that the people wanted to move towards development. Moreover, he hailed the results as a "win for democracy". Meanwhile, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti contended that the people's verdict was a rejection of the decision to abrogate Article 370. 

Read: J-K Authorities Detain At Least 20 Political Leaders On Eve Of DDC Poll Counting