Brisk polling underway in first phase of J&K Assembly polls

Srinagar, Sep 18 (PTI) Long queues were seen at several booths early Wednesday as voting in the first phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls began on a brisk note, officials said.

The assembly polls — the first since the abrogation of Article 370 — are being held in three phases. Polling is underway in 24 constituencies spread over seven districts of the Union Territory.

This is the maiden assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir in a Union Territory setup, and also the first poll to elect an assembly in the last 10 years.

The Centre abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh — on August 5, 2019.

A voter turnout of 11.11 per cent was recorded in the first two hours of voting, according to officials.

Voters, especially women and the elderly lined up outside their respective polling booths early morning. Long queues were seen at several booths even before the voting began at 7 am, officials said.

They said the voting gathered pace and queues got longer after the first hour as the morning breeze gave way to sunshine.

The voters said the people of Jammu and Kashmir were getting a chance to elect their assembly members after a long time and they were making the most of this opportunity.

“Today is a festival of democracy. We are electing our representatives after 10 years. A democratically elected government is better than other governments,” Bashir Ahmad from Kulgam, said.

He said there were many issues confronting the people of Kashmir but the restoration of statehood was the most important.

“Apart from development, we are voting against what has been done to us. Our statehood has been snatched away, there is an onslaught on us in one way or the other every day. This is a vote against all that,” Ahmad said.

All arrangements, including security related, are in place and the polling across the 24 assembly segments is going on smoothly, the officials said.

In the first phase of the three-phase polls, seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir, located on either side of the Pir Panjal mountain range, are voting to choose their representatives.

Over 23 lakh voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents, who are running for 24 assembly segments — eight in three districts of Jammu region and 16 in four districts of Kashmir valley.

The officials said a total of 14,000 polling staff will oversee the process at 3,276 polling stations.

Prominent candidates in Kashmir whose fate will be sealed on Wednesday include CPI (M)’s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, National Conference’s Sakina Itoo, and PDP’s Sartaj Madni and Abdul Rehman Veeri.

PDP’s Iltija Mufti, contesting from Srigufwara-Bijbehara, and the party’s youth leader Waheed Para, from Pulwama, are also the contenders to watch for in the first phase.

In Jammu, trying their luck are former ministers Sajjad Kitchloo (NC), Khalid Najib Suharwardy (NC) Vikar Rasool Wani (Congress), Abdul Majid Wani (DPAP), Sunil Sharma (BJP), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda west), and Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, a three-time MLA who is fighting as an Independent after he was denied ticket by DPAP which he had joined after quitting Congress in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad two years ago.

Former MLA Daleep Singh Parihar (BJP), former MLC Firdous Tak and Imtiyaz Shan (PDP), NC’s Pooja Thakur, the sitting chairperson of district development council Kishtwar, BJP’s young face Shagun Parihar, whose father Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were killed by terrorists in November 2018, and Mehraj din Malik of AAP are among other prominent faces in the fray.

Among the constituencies going to the polls on Wednesday are Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, Pahalgam, Inderwal, Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Bhadarwah, Doda, Doda West, Ramban and Banihal.

The polling is scheduled to end at 6 pm.

The other two phases will be held on September 25 and October 1, while the votes will be counted on October 8.