Mir Ehsan   

People in the Jammu region turned out in strength to cast their votes on Saturday, but the turnout was mixed in the Kashmir valley where the first phase of polling in the panchayat elections took place amid heavy security and under the shadow of a separatist call for a shutdown strike.

Overall voter turnout in the first phase was 74.1%. Seven districts in Jammu, six in Kashmir and two in Ladakh went to the polls on Saturday, starting a ninephase election that will conclude on December 11. These are the first panchayat elections in J&K in seven years.

No incident of violence was reported from anywhere in the state, where the separatist Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) had called for a shutdown strike in the valley and a boycott of the panchayat elections. Although people did turn up to vote, a complete shutdown was observed in the valley, with traffic staying off the roads.

The seven districts of Jammu that went to the polls on Saturday recorded a healthy turnout. Kishtwar district, which witnessed the recent killing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajeet Parihar, recorded 77% polling.

Neighbouring Doda recorded an 81% turnout. Ramban district recorded a turnout of 78%, Udhampur 84%, Kathua 80%, Rajouri 79% and Poonch 79%.

“Jammu people have always negated separatists’ diktats and this time also, we are seeing a healthy turnout,” said a home department official on condition of anonymity. In the valley, the turnout percentage was mixed. Kupwara recorded 71.9%, Bandipore 55.7%, Baramulla.69.1%, Ganderbal 11.9%, Srinagar .21.8% and Budgam 30.1%. Kargil had a turnout of 70.9% and Leh 59.7%.

In Hayatpora village in north Kashmir’s Kunzer block, at a polling station housed in a school, 123 votes had been cast out of 178 by 1pm 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-to-day 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 7 and 8, 10 votes were polled. Most of the voters didn’t come out,” an official at the polling station said on condition of anonymity.

At least 6,000 candidates are in the fray in the nine-phase elections. The second phase will be held on 20 November. In January, militant group Hizbul Mujahideen had warned former panchayat members against contesting the elections. The group’s operational commander, Riyaz Naikoo, had threatened to pour acid in the eyes of anyone who dared to contest the polls. In 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 the poll dates 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, have boycotted the elections over the “lack of clarity” surrounding the Centre’s stand on legal challenges in the Supreme Court to the state’s special status. Both parties had stayed away from October’s urban local body polls over the same issue.

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Courtesy: Hindustan Times: 18th Nov, 2018