Jammu, Nov 29 (IANS): The first phase of maiden bye-elections for seats of Panchayat-level bodies in J&K recorded 64 per cent voting turnout for Panches and 57 per cent for Sarpanch vacancies, State Election Commissioner K.K. Sharma said on Sunday.

The SEC informed that a total of 1,43,592 voters exercised their franchise in these historic polls for both Sarpanches and Panches.

In the vacant Panch constituencies in Jammu Division, Ramban district recorded the highest voter turnout of 77.77 per cent followed by Doda with 77.73 per cent while in Kashmir, Shopian witnessed 86.74 per cent followed by Budgam with 72.79 per cent polling.

Similarly, in the Sarpanch constituencies, Ganderbal witnessed 71.04 per cent voter turnout while Jammu district recorded the highest turnout of 77.24 per cent.

Sharma said that the DDC and Panchayat elections will play a decisive and catalytic role towards development of the people at grassroots level. He appreciated every stakeholder for tireless efforts towards successful conduct of the polls.

In the first phase of the Panchayat bypolls, 1,131 candidates were in the fray including 852 in Panch constituencies for 368 vacancies and 279 for 94 vacancies for Sarpanch constituencies.