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At 62.7%, Jamaat stronghold Kulgam sees high turnout
Voter turnout in the erstwhile Jamaat-e-Islami stronghold Kulgam jumped over 5% from the 2014 assembly polls, with supporters of banned outfit leaving behind calls of boycotts to come out to vote in large numbers after 37 years.
Voter turnout in the erstwhile Jamaat-e-Islami stronghold Kulgam jumped over 5% from the 2014 assembly polls, with supporters of banned outfit leaving behind calls of boycotts to come out to vote in large numbers after 37 years.
Jamaat-backed independent candidate Sayyar Ahmad Reshi is taking on five-time legislator and CPI(M) general secretary Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami in a high-stakes battle for the seat.
Four independents contesting from south Kashmir are being supported by Jamaat, which last contested polls in 1987, and their supporters are voting for “change and development”.
Reshi, who is affiliated with Jamaat ran a strong campaign from Kulgam, taking the challenge to Tarigami, who is also the coalition candidate being supported by the National Conference and the Congress. He has won the seat continuously since 1996.
“I have never voted in my life. This is my first vote for a candidate who is contesting for the first time with a hope to bring change and development,” said Zaffar Ahmad Khan, an M Tech graduate from a village where Jamaat has a good support base.
His friend Arshid Ahmad, a laboratory technician, said people who used to boycott polls are now coming out to vote with families for the first time. “Earlier, our village used to have negligible voting but this time half the residents have already voted within the first four to five hours. The presence of Jamaat candidates has made the contest very lively,” he said, adding that he will trust a candidate who has worked for the constituency.
Besides Reshi, Jamaat is backing three candidates — Aijaz Ahmad Mir from Zainpora, Dr Talaat Majeed from Pulwama and Nazir Ahmad from Devsar.
“The presence of Jamaat voters have made the contest very interesting, and this time, there is no fear among the voters which is very good for democracy,” Abdul Ahad, a CPI(M) supporter who sees the contest as triangular between the CPI(M), the Jamaat independent and the Peoples Democratic Party, said.
At the Kerwan village, Reshi’s supporters said they felt happy for the first time their candidate was in the fray. “Earlier, elections never enthused us. Now we are very very interested in the process. The Jamaat candidate has given us a new hope and we wish he should win this time,” said Younis Ahmad, a businessman.
Before stepping away from the electoral arena, Jamaat had won the Kulgam in 1987 and in 1972 and its supporters are hopeful of repeating the feat.
“We are a cadre-based party and many of them came out to vote for our candidates. Many Jamaat supporters voted in the Lok Sabha polls but this time, they voted for their own candidates. We hope our candidates will win and raise our voice to get the ban on Jamaat removed in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly,” said a leader of the Jamaat panel, which had given the go-ahead for participation in the assembly polls.
At Mirhama village, 5 km away from Kulgam town, long queues of voters were waiting outside the two polling stations established at Government Higher Secondary school right on the highway.
Even the CPI(M) supporters acknowledge that the real contest was between Tarigami and Reshi. “Earlier, we used to have a contest with the NC or the PDP. Now, our contest is with Jamaat and we aren’t taking it lightly,” Ghulam Mohammad Padder, Mirhama sarpanch who is affiliated with CPI(M), said.
Even at Zainapora and Devsar, Jamaat supporters turned out in good numbers to vote for their candidates. Pulwama was the only seat where a lull was observed.
Jamaat, which is backing 10 Independents in Kashmir in total, stitched up a tactical alliance with Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party.
The Centre had in 2019 imposed a five-year ban on the Jamaat, citing the outfit’s ties with terrorist groups. It had first been banned in 1975 and again in 1990, at the beginning of the militancy in Kashmir. In Lok Sabha polls, many Jamaat supporters had voted, however this was the first time after 1987 when Jamaat backed candidates were in the fray.
