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Second phase of Jammu and Kashmir panchayat polls today
Voting for the second phase of the panchayat election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held on Tuesday amid tight security and a call by the separatists for a strike.
Voting for the second phase of the panchayat election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held on Tuesday amid tight security and a call by the separatists for a strike.
More than 4,000 candidates are contesting in the second phase of elections, officials said.
The National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the two main parties of the state, have boycotted the elections over the “lack of clarity” surrounding the Centre’s stand on legal challenges in the Supreme Court to the state’s special status. Both the parties had also boycotted the urban local body polls in October.
Separatists have asked people to observe a day-long strike against the polls. The Joint Resistance Leadership comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Yasin Malik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has asked people to observe a strike in areas where the elections are being held on Tuesday. Police took JKLF chairperson Malik into custody on Monday evening.
Senior separatist leader Geelani said on Sunday that those supporting Kashmir’s struggle would never vote.
Several blocks of 14 districts, including two of Anantnag district, will vote in the second phase of polling. The third phase will be held on Saturday.
In the first phase held last Saturday, the state recorded 74% polling. In Kashmir, where a mere 4% polling was recorded in recently-concluded urban local body polls, the voting percentage was 64%, prompting Governor Satya Pal Malik to call the election a success of democracy.
No untoward incident was reported in the first phase of polling from any place where it was held during the scheduled hours. Officials are hoping the second phase will also remain peaceful.
Militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) had in January warned former panchayat members against contesting the elections. The group’s operational commander, Riyaz Naikoo, had threatened to pour acid into the eyes of anyone who dared to contest the polls. The militants had also warned people against casting their vote.
More than half a dozen panchayat houses were either damaged or set on fire by suspected militants after the dates for the polls were announced in September. Sixteen sarpanchs (panchayat heads) and panchs (panchayat members) have been killed by militants in the last four years, which security officials said was one of the reasons why candidates were not campaigning openly.
While security officials conceded it wasn’t possible for them to provide personal security for every contestant, they said they were doing their best, including deploying 40,000 additional troops in the Valley, to ensure no untoward incident takes place during the polls.
The killing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anil Parihar and his brother by suspected militants in Kishtwar earlier in the month has also put security agencies on an alert.
In an attempt to encourage more people to contest in the polls, the State Administrative Council (SAC), headed by Governor Malik, decided in October that elected sarpanchs and panchs will be paid a monthly honorarium of ₹2,500 and ₹1,000 respectively.
