2735 Independent candidates have emerged as key players in the maiden District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir, winning 50 of the 280 seats. Aditi Tandon New Delhi, December 23 Independent candidates have emerged as key players in the maiden District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir, winning 50 of the 280 seats. Impressive show Kashmir: 31 Inds — Anantnag 2, Budgam 2, Bandipora 3, Baramulla 3, Ganderbal 3, Kupwara 3, Pulwama 4, Shopian 4, Srinagar 7 Jammu: 19 — highest 8 in Poonch Ex-minister falls short of 11 votes Independent candidate Taranjit Singh defeated BJP’s two-time MLA and former minister Sham Lal Choudhary in Suchetgarh (Jammu) by a margin of just 11 votes They finished third after the BJP and National Conference in the overall DDC poll results announced this evening. They got more votes than the Congress and PDP. The BJP got 4.87 lakh votes, NC 2.82 lakh, Independents 1.71 lakh, Congress 1.39 lakh and the PDP 57,000.