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| 79 percent cast votes in first phase of Panchayat polls Peaceful polling in all 8 blocks | | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, April 13:
The first phase of Panchayat polls to elect 288 Sarpanches and 2118 Panches in eight blocks spread across the state passed off peacefully today as no untoward incident or violence was reported from anywhere.
More than 2,800 candidates were in the fray for the first phase of polls, which began on a positive note this morning.
Nearly, 79 percent electorates turned up at the polling stations in eight blocks including five in Kashmir and three in Jammu.
The five blocks in Kashmir province where the polls were conducted today include Kangan of Ganderbal district, Badgam of Badgam district, Quimoh (Main and Partly) of Kulgam district and Kupwara of Kupwara district while in Jammu region the elections were held in three blocks comprising Samba of Samba district, Bishnah of Jammu district and Udhampur of Udhampur district.
The Election were held on 56 Sarpanch Constituencies and 436 Panch Constituencies in block Kupwara, 43 Sarpanch and 287 Panch Constituencies in block Kangan, 36 Sarpanch and 282 Panch Constituencies in block Budgam, 23 Sarpanch and 160 Panch Constituencies in Block Quimoh (Main), 13 Sarpanch and 95 Panch Constituencies in Block Quimoh (Partly), 46 Sarpanch and 332 Panch Constituencies in Block Udhampur, 33 Sarpanch and 242 Panch Constituencies in Block Samba and 38 Sarpanch and 284 Panch Constituencies in Block Bishnah.
Tight security arrangements were put in place to ensure peaceful, fair and free elections, official sources said.
Amid the poll boycott call of the separatists, five blocks of Kashmir Valley witnessed brisk polling with Kupwara block recording maximum 86.20 percent voting.
Three blocks of the Jammu region including Udhampur, Samba and Bishnah also witnessed over 80 percent polling in the first phase of the polling.
According to the State Electoral Department, Udhampur, Samba and Bishnah blocks witnessed 80.49 percent, 82 percent and 80 percent polling respectively while in Kashmir region, Budgam, Kangan, Quimoh (main block) and Quimoh (partly) saw 72 percent, 77.87, 77.87, and 77.34 percent polling respectively.
A large turnout including a good number of women in almost all the polling booths in Bishnah and Samba blocks was witnessed.
People, including women and youth eligible to cast votes lined up an half an hour before the elections. They made beelines in front of the polling booths to choose their representatives at the local level.
The polling started at 8:00 am and concluded at 2: 00 pm while counting was started at 4:00 pm.
“Due to huge rush, I was able to cast my vote at 9 am only though I reached the polling booth at 7:30 am,” Ram Lal, a voter in Bishnah told Early Times.
Vowing to participate in the developmental policies concerning their areas, a large number of voters said that they used their right to franchise for empowerment of the grass root level democracy.
“I voted for empowering democracy at grass root level … This is a vote for my day to day needs like road, water, power and ration,” Som Raj said after casting his vote in in the outskirts of Samba.
The Panchayat polls in the State are being held on non-party basis in 16-phases after a gap of about ten years. Polling will cover a total 4,128 panchayats across the state and will be completed by May.
The second phase of the polling will be held on April 17, third on April 21, fourth on April 25, fifth on April 30, sixth on May 4, seventh on May 8, eighth on May 12, ninth on May 16 and 10th to 16th phases will be held on May 21, May 25, May 29, June 2, June 6, June 11 and June 18 respectively.
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