Jammu and Kashmir recorded an overall turnout of 31.3 per cent in the second phase of the urban local bodies election Wednesday with Jammu division recording over 78 per cent voting but Kashmir Valley only an average of three per cent.
Polling was held in 11 districts — six in Jammu region and five in Kashmir — for 263 municipal wards in the second of the four phase elections amid tight security arrangements. Over 1,000 candidates, including nearly 900 in Jammu region, were in the fray.
Chief electoral officer Shaleen Kabra said that overall 31.3 per cent polling was witnessed in the second phase. Cumulative polling percentage till date is 47.2 per cent with 67.7 per cent voting recorded in Jammu division and 8.3 per cent in Kashmir division in the first phase on October 8 and second phase Wednesday.
In the first two phases, 4,36,285 voters exercised their franchise out of a total of 9,33,000 eligible voters, he said.
The other two phases will be held on October 13 and 16, while votes will be counted on October 20.
{{/usCountry}}The other two phases will be held on October 13 and 16, while votes will be counted on October 20.
{{/usCountry}}On Wednesday, the Jammu division districts of Kathua, Udhampur, Reasi, Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar saw 78.6 per cent polling for 214 wards with Reasi recording the highest turnout of 84.6 per cent.
Kishtwar deputy commissioner Angrez Singh Rana said, “Kishtwar district recorded an overall 72.77 percentage voter turnout. The polling was conducted peacefully. We had a total of 9125 voters out of whom 6641 exercised their right.”
Ramban deputy commissioner Showkat Aijaz Bhat said the district had a total poll percentage of 79.5 per cent.
“The polling in ward number 2 in Ramban was cancelled following the death of Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, Azad Singh Raju. He died of a heart attack,” he added.
“Ward number 5 and 4 in Ramban witnessed 98 per cent and 90 per cent polling,” he added.
The enthusiasm could be gauged from the fact that two centurions — Padam Nabh Sharma (104) and Gohar Singh (100), a former chairman of Batote municipal committee, were among the oldest voters in Ramban district.
Doda deputy commissioner Simrandeep Singh said that the hilly district recorded 73 percent turnout.
“There were 13,495 voters out of whom 9,820 polled their votes. There was no untoward incident. It was an impressive turn out,” he said.
Udhampur district also recorded an impressive 79.21 per cent turnout. Deputy commissioner Ravinder Kumar said, “There was an overall percentage of 79.21 per cent. In Ramnagar and Chenani, women voters outnumbered their male counterparts.”
Kathua deputy commissioner Rohit Khajuria said that his district recorded 80 percent turnout for 79 wards, with 43,658 of the total of 54,994 voters exercising their franchise.
Kashmir’s five districts — Anantnag, Bandipora, Baramulla, Kupwara and Srinagar — where voting was held in 49 wards, yet again witnessed a lukewarm response in view of terror threats and boycott by the two main parties — National Conference and People’s Democratic Party — over alleged threat to the state’s special status.
The turnout of 3.4 per cent was in line with a meagre 8.3 per cent turnout in the valley during the first phase of polling, when the Jammu and Ladakh divisions had witnessed over 65 per cent.
While Bandipora recording the highest turnout of 34.2 per cent, Anantnag in south Kashmir reported just 1.1 per cent turnout, reported IANS.
Nineteen wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation, having an electorate of 1.78 lakh, witnessed a turnout of just 2.3 per cent, while Sopore in north Kashmir registered a turnouts of 6.1 per cent.