31.3% voting in second phase of J&K civic polls
Anantnag registers lowest turnout of 1.1%
SRINAGAR:THE boycott call by separatists, abstention by NC and PDP and threat from militants yet again kept most voters away from polling booths in the Kashmir valley which saw a low voter turnout of 3.4% while Jammu division recorded 78.6% polling on Wednesday in the second phase of the urban municipal body elections.
An overall poll percentage of 31.3% was recorded in the second phase, said chief electoral officer Shaleen Kabra.
A total of 11 districts, six in Jammu region and five in Kashmir with 1,029 candidates in the fray went to the polls in the second phase amid tight security arrangements.
The elections are being boycotted by the two main regional parties, the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
In the Valley, Bandipora recorded the highest turnout at 35.6% and Anantnag the lowest 1.1%.
Of the 2,18,876 eligible voters in the five municipal bodies of Kashmir, over 7,400 voted in the elections amid shutdown in pollbound areas and boycott call by separatists and militants.
Except Bandipora where some 35.6% of the total 7,910 electorate voted, all the four other municipal bodies in Anantnag, Srinagar, Kupwara and Baramulla recorded a single digit poll percentage.
The CEO said the cumulative polling percentage of both the phases is 47.2% with 67.7% voting recorded in Jammu division and 8.34% in Kashmir division.
The voting started from 6am, half an hour before sunrise in Kashmir. In the first phase, polling had started at 7am.
In the first phase, only 8.2% turnout was recorded in the Kashmir region while overall turnout in the state was 56.7%.
As many as 1,029 candidates were in the fray for 263 municipal wards for Phase 2 with 881 candidates in Jammu division and 148 in Kashmir division.
The polling stations in capital Srinagar, south Kashmir’s Anantnag and north Kashmir’s Baramulla and Kupwara remained deserted.
“I have come out to vote because the candidate I am voting is a close acquaintance and is without a proper work. There are five girls in the family. So I wanted to help,” said a voter in a polling booth of Munawarabad in Srinagar.
Till 12 in the noon, over 20 votes were cast out of 4,683 eligible voters in the six polling booths of the ward.
However, long queues were seen in Sumbal municipal body of Bandipora district.
People of all ages could be seen waiting for their turns in many of the 11 polling stations. The media were not allowed to carry out their work after people raised an objection to their presence.
In the poll-bound areas, shops, businesses were closed and traffic movement as affected. The authorities had reduced the speed of mobile internet service. The polling remained peaceful.
“Both phases of elections were peaceful. The deployment of police and security forces was good and cooperation from people was great also. I hope the coming two phases will also be smooth,” said state director general of police (DGP) Dilbag Singh.
The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik have also asked people to observe subsequent protest shutdown on poll days — October 13 and 16.
“People have again rejected and dismissed the sham elections through a boycott and protest shut down against it,” they said in a statement.
The four-phase municipal polls for 72 municipal committees, six municipal councils and two municipal corporations have a total of 3,372 nominations filed for 1,145 wards. The third phase of polling covering 207 wards across the state will be held on October 13. In the last phase on October 16, polling will be held for 132 wards. The counting of votes will be held on October 20.