J&K polling: Voters wait in queues to cast votes in Pulwama

Pulwama (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 18 (ANI): As the first phase of polling starts in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, a large queue of voters waited outside a polling booth in Pulwama to cast their vote.

People Democratic Party (PDP) leader and spokesperson Mohit Ban said that queues formed during the polls are the testimony of the decisions that Delhi took on August 5, 2019, and the way they have been inhumane to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking to ANI, Ban said, “The queues formed during the polls are the testimony of the decisions that Delhi took on August 5, 2019, and the way they were inhumane to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Once these queues end and the results are out on October 8, you will see the verdict of the people is against the decision of 5th August 2019.”

Further, he said that the people have seen how their resources, their lands, their jobs and their identities have been under attack for the last five years.

“The people have seen how their resources, their lands, jobs and identities have been under attack for the last five years. The way there are queues across all booths, we see anger and emotions pouring in from the people,” he added.

Further, he said that the party has been clear with their manifesto.

Ban said, “I think our party has made the manifesto pretty clear and our leaders have been campaigning for a month now. I think the people are not happy with the way they are being dealt with, they are the stakeholders, they are not being taken into account, and they do not have a say in the decision. That is the anger among the people and that is why they are coming out to vote.”

Polling for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections began at 7 am today amid tight security arrangements. The voting will conclude at 6 pm. Long queues of voters were seen at polling stations in the morning.

In the first phase, 24 assembly constituencies across the Union Territory are voting today, which includes 16 seats in the Kashmir region and 8 seats in the Jammu region.

Voting for the second and third phases in J-K will be held on September 25 and October 1 respectively. The counting of votes will be held on October 8.

This marks the first Assembly elections in J-K since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.