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| Phase-II ends peacefully, huge voter turnout disturbing for NC | | | Bashir Assad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Dec2. Braving the chilly weather, people in record numbers voted in the second phase to decide the fate of many stalwarts in Kulgam and Kupwara districts. As the second phase of elections in Jammu and Kashmir commenced peacefully Tuesday morning , thousands of voters, braving chilly weather, lined up with Kangris (firepots) at polling centers in Kupwara and Kulgam districts. Long queues of men and women could seen at hundreds of polling stations even after 4pm. Though the turn-out in the morning hours was slow, however, it picked up slowly towards noon. Brisk polling was witnessed in Handwara, Kupwara, Langate, Lolab and Karnah assembly segments. However, in Kulgam district the voter turnout in Homeshalibugh constituency remained average while in Kulgam, Devsar and Noorabad the turnout remained impressive. The initial trends of the information gathering agencies suggest that the record turn-out in Noorabad, Kupwara, Handwara and Karnah constituencies may prove dearer for ruling National Conference candidates representing these seats in the current legislator. The agencies, however, said that low voter turnout in Homeshalibugh has made the contest interesting.They said in Kulgam constituency, it is a fifty-fifty game between M Y Tarigami of CPI(M) and Nazir Ahmad Laway of PDP, while Devsar is all set to repeat 2008. Agencies said in Handwara and Kupwara constituencies, represented by Choudhary Ramzan and Mir Saifullah respectively are set to throw surprises. "It is about our prestige. We have to get our lost leader back. This is the time for us to act and vote for Sajad Lone so that he pulls us out of deprivation," Abida Parveen, a college pass-out said outside a polling booth in Handwara. Abida was accompanied by her friends and relatives in Handwara who were standing outside the polling center to cast their votes. Asked about Sajad's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which had become an issue in Handwara in the run up to the second phase of assembly elections, Abida said people were not bothered about it. "What is wrong in it? He was meeting a prime minister. If Hurriyats can meet Atal Bihari Vajpayee, what is wrong if our leader meets Modi. BJP is a non-issue here. We have come to vote for Sajad, " she says. For over 20 years, Kupwara was one of the highly conflicted areas in Kashmir which bore the brunt of violence. Of the 70,000 estimated persons killed in conflict since 1989, according to Human Rights Aware of the Bharatiya Janta Party's (BJP) rise in the region's political landscape, Sajad's rivals in Kupwara district's five main constituencies had launched into a tirade against him. His party, Jammu Kashmir Peoples Conference, having abandoned mainstream politics in 1987, returned to the state's political arena this year and is contesting from all the five seats in Kupwara region. But the meeting with Modi had made both Lone and BJP targets in this north Kashmir border district for the ruling National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party. It also fuelled rumors among Sajad's followers that he was the prospective chief minister of the state, though it has also invited some harsh remarks from even Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who said that the "BJP has purchased those who demanded Azadi for 25 years." |
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