J&K: Ignoring boycott call, freezing weather, over 70 pc voters come out in the first phase of polls

Srinagar: Despite a boycott call given by separatist leaders and chilly weather conditions, the first phase of the five phased Legislative Assembly elections in 15 constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir recorded a remarkable voter turnout, setting a positive trend for the remaining four phases in the state.

A massive security grid with state police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) forming the inner ring and the Army undertaking area domination exercise in the forests and hills ensured that voting was peaceful with more that 70 per cent of the eligible electorate coming out to press the EVM buttons.

Even areas like Bandipora where voting has been very poor in previous elections due to boycott witnessed long queues as people ignored hardliner Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani's call to not take part in elections. During the 16th Lok Sabha elections, just a few months ago, only about 20 per cent voters had come out in Bandipora.

But the district administration's massive combing operations to round up the trouble makers and steps taken to make the people aware of their democratic rights paid off on Tuesday as the young and old, men and women, came out in large numbers despite the freezing cold.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Electoral Officer Umang Narula said around 70 per cent electorate cast their vote in Monday's polling for the first phase of Assembly Elections across 15 constituencies spread in 7 districts of the state.

He said that over 75 per cent voter turnout has been recorded in three constituencies of Bandipora district. Sonawari, where Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is giving a tough competition to National Conference (NC) candidate and sitting MLA Mohammad Akbar Lone, recorded a turnout of 80.10 per cent, against 59.95 per cent in 2008 Assembly elections.

The border town of Gurez, which is surrounded by Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) from three sides, recorded a voter turnout of 77.10 per cent. The main competition in this Assembly constituency is between Minister of State in Omar-led government Nazir Ahmad Khan Gurezi, who is seeking re-election for the third time and Congress candidate Faqir Mohammad Khan.

Meanwhile, Bandipora constituency recorded a voter turnout of 70 per cent, against 57.07 per cent in 2008. Even though NC and BJP have fielded their respective candidates from this constituency, the main tussle is between PDP and Congress.

However, there was a decline in the voter turnout due to extremely cold weather in all the four constituencies in Ladakh region - Leh, Kargil, Zanaskar and Nobra - which went to polls in the first phase.

Kargil Assembly constituency witnessed a decline of 15 per cent in the voter turnout from 2008, while Zanaskar registered a decrease of 1 per cent. "60 per cent votes were polled in Kargil constituency while 71 per cent vote were recorded from Zanskar constituency," the spokesperson said.

Nobra recorded a voter turnout of 53 per cent, against 71.26 per cent, while Leh witnessed 66 per cent polling, against 61.04 per cent.

Ganderbal seat, which elected Chief Minister Omar Abdullah as an MLA in 2008, recorded a voter turnout of 75.6 per cent, against 51.77 per cent in the last Assembly election. Though the main competition is between PDP and NC, the former has an edge over the later following resignation of a senior leader from the party after Omar decided not to seek re-election from the constituency.

Many political experts believe that Omar decided not to contest the seat fearing a defeat following mis-governance.

"We want good roads, interrupted power supply, safe drinking water, corruption-free society and employment for our youths," a 30-year-old man after casting his vote said in Ganderbal constituency. Several lakh educated youths are unemployed as there is no big industry, he said, adding tha the government has also failed to fill more than one lakh vacancies in government departments during the past six years.

Unemployed youths can be easily brain washed by all those who don't want peace in the valley, he added.

Kangan constituency witnessed a voter turnout of 76 per cent, against 59.55 per cent in 2008. Though there are 10 candidates in the fray from the constituency, there is a tough competition between NC candidate, who is seeking re-election from the constituency, and PDP.

He said 68.83 per cent polling was recorded in Kishtwar, against 74.46 per cent in 2008 and Inderwal witnessed 72.54 per cent, against 72.73 per cent.

Meanwhile, Doda recorded a voter turnout of 79 per cent, Bhaderwah 70 per cent, Ramban 69 per cent and Banihal 70 per cent.

CEO Narula said that the polling was held in a peaceful atmosphere and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the constituency. In order to ensure that polling is conducted smoothly in various inaccessible areas of the hilly districts 43 air sorties were done, he said.

The CEO said that the constituencies that went to the polls were spread over seven districts for which as many as 1787 polling station at 1606 locations were set up, which included 85 critical and 558 hypersensitive ones.

In order to improve the voting experience, 92 model polling stations were established with innovative facilities, Narula said, adding that web casting was done on 159 polling stations and 148 digital and 118 video cameras were deployed.

Narula said that 255 micro observers were also deployed during the first phase of polling. The CEO said 123 candidates were in the fray for these 15 constituencies which comprised 1061275 numbers of electors including 558178 male, 503086 female and 11 third gender voters.