First phase of J&K Panchayat polls passes off peacefully
first phase of panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir took place on Saturday as people turned up to vote amid tight security in defiance of a separatist call for a boycott of the vote.
A police spokesman said the first phase concluded peacefully, with no untoward incident being reported.
The separatist Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) had called for a shutdown strike in the valley and a boycott of the ninephase panchayat elections, which will conclude on December 11. Although people did turn up to vote, a complete shutdown was observed in the valley, with traffic staying off the roads.
Additional troops were deployed in sensitive areas in Srinagar and other towns to deter troublemakers.
The voting pattern was mixed. At Hayatpora village in north Kashmir’s Kunzer block, at a polling station housed in a school, by 1 pm 123 votes had been cast out of 178 and many were still waiting for their turn.
“This is an election to select village heads and it has nothing to do with the politics of Kashmir. We hope people who will get elected will help to get our day-today problems resolved,” said Saifudin Rishi, a local villager.
Six kilometres away, at Manglora Takiya Batpora in the same block. the mood was completely different as very few people turned up to vote. Out of 714 registered voters, only 24 had cast their votes by the time polling ended at 2 pm.
“At polling booths 5 and 6 only eight and six votes were polled while in booth number 7 and 8, 10
KUNZER:The
votes were polled. Most of the voters didn’t come out,” an official at the polling station said on condition of anonymity.
More than 6,000 candidates are in the fray in the nine-phase elections. The second phase of the panchayat elections will be held on November 20.
Militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen had in January warned former panchayat members against contesting the elections. the last panchayat elections, held in 2011, the polling percentage was more than 70%.
At least half-a dozen panchayat houses were either damaged or set on fire by suspected militants after dates for the polls were announced in September. Sixteen sarpanchs (panchayat heads) and panchs (panchayat members) have been killed by militants in the last four years .
The National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the two main parties in J&K, boycotted the elections over the “lack of clarity” surrounding the Centre’s stand on legal challenges in the SC to the state’s special status. Both parties had stayed away from October’s urban local body polls.