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Phase 5: J&K’s Baramulla to vote on May 20 amid tight security
As many as 22 candidates are in the fray but the main competition is between political bigwigs Omar Abdullah of National Conference and Sajjad Gani Lone of Peoples Conference
After two back to back militant attacks in south Kashmir, the security on Sunday was tightened across the valley particularly in north Kashmir’s Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency which is going to polls on Monday.
The voting in 18 segments of Baramulla – comprising the border districts of Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara and two segments of central Kashmir’s Budgam district comes on the heels of a relatively good voter turnout of 38.4% in Srinagar, which went to polls on May 13. The constituency covers the snow clad hills of Gulmarg, the Karewas of Budgam and many border villages on Line of Control including polling station-1, Seemari situated in assembly constituency-1, Karnah.
As many as 22 candidates are in the fray but the main competition is between political bigwigs Omar Abdullah of National Conference(NC) and Sajjad Gani Lone of Peoples Conference(PC). The emergence of “dark horse” engineer Abdul Rashid, who is in jail as his son campaigned for him, has made the fight interesting.
Thousands of security forces draped the region in a security blanket as the authorities dispatched official voting parties to the respective polling booths. Every polling party was accompanied by a security party along with GPS fitted vehicles. The security personnel dotted the region along with road opening parties (ROPs) and quick reaction teams (QRTs) for area dominance and providing a peaceful atmosphere for voting.
“Additional security has been deployed at sensitive places and are keeping watch on the movements of people with suspected credentials. The night vigil across towns of north Kashmir has been beefed up and more checked points have been established in all the districts to provide secure environs for voters,” said a senior police officer.
First major polls since abrogation of Article 370
The Lok Sabha elections are the first major polls in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. The campaigning in the polling has been has been electric while the polling percentage has increased in Srinagar to a 28 percent year high of 38.4 percent.
However, two back to back militant attacks in south Kashmir on Saturday, which led to killing of a former Sarpanch and injuries to a tourist couple, have cast some shadows.
One of the sectoral level officers said all staff has reached to designated polling stations and security is in place. “From today till end of the polling, the staff will remain at the stations which have been secured fully, “ he said.
Over 17.37 lakh voters would be eligible to cast their ballot in 2,103 polling stations established across the Baramulla constituency which will be manned by around 8,000 polling officials. Besides, there are 28 border polling stations in Kupwara and Baramulla districts. Also, 26 special polling stations for migrants have been established with 21 polling stations in Jammu, four in Delhi and one in Udhampur district.
As many as 4,256 CCTV cameras have been installed for live webcasting from the polling booths inside and outside. “The poll day will be monitored through 24X7 Integrated Command and Control Rooms established at CEO level with latest technologies and all the polling stations will be monitored throughout the day by a tech savvy team. The control rooms have also been set up in the offices of returning officers for parallel monitoring,” an official spokesperson said.
The authorities said the arrangements for the polling are in place.
“Our district election officers have ensured minimum assured facilities at all our 2103 polling stations including 905 in Baramulla district. I would like to inform voters to bring their epic cards or any other document necessary for identity. Come in large numbers and vote,” said Minga Sherpa, deputy commissioner and returning officer Baramulla.
As the campaigning in the districts of the constituency concluded on Saturday evening, the authorities have imposed restrictions under section 144 prohibiting any kind of campaigning till the voting ends on Monday evening.
“No one, including citizens, journalists, politicians, would be allowed to partake in any election campaign related activity. Holding public meetings, conferences, and interviews has been stopped to give the voters a peaceful break from being influenced by campaigns so that they may make a considered decision while voting,” the official spokesperson said.
NC candidates have been elected from the seat 10 times, including the last time in 2019 when Mohammad Akbar Lone defeated the PC candidate by a margin of 30,000 votes. The turnout in 2019 was 35 percent.
