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| Govt agencies predict poor response to poll boycott call in J&K | | |
Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 11 : Though the election commission is making all possible arrangements for encouraging people to cast their votes during the Lok Sabha elections in the six constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, the voting percentage may ultimately depend on the way separatists and militants were able to enforce their poll boycott. Official sources said that the Election Commission was making every effort to ensure maximum polling in J&K in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as voter turnout in the State in the last general election was lowest in the country. In general elections 2009, voter turnout in JK was 39.68 percent which was lowest among all the States of India.
Officials of the commission are making last minute efforts for making people aware of the significance of participation in the poll process.But it depends on the response of people to the separatists' call for poll boycott.
Sources said that militants were trying to create added scare among people in the state, especially in the Kashmir valley. In order to trigger scare militants were trying to attack security pickets and convoys. An attempt is being made to provoke security forces to retaliate so that there were civilian causalities which could help separatists in achieving their desired goal of securing complete response from voters to the poll boycott call.
However, Government agencies are confident over higher polling percentage because the level of scare of militants had declined during the last over 15 years.These agencies said people in the Kashmir valley had been gripped by high level of scare in 1989 Lok Sabha election which was evident by very poor polling percentage, varying between two and three per cent in Anantnag and Baramulla constituencies, and the Srinagar seat going to the NC candidate without a contest. The Government agencies said that there was no possibility for 1989 poll scene to get repeated in the Kashmir valley. Citing the polling percentage registered during the Assembly election in 1996,2002 and 2008 official sources said that this indicated that separatists' call for poll boycott did not evoke major response from people. |
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