3.46 lakh voters to decide fate of 1029 candidates
18 ULBs of Jammu, 5 from Valley to vote
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 9: Twenty-three Urban Local Bodies spread over 11 districts of the State having 263 Wards and 1029 candidates across the State will go to polls in second phase of Urban Local Bodies elections tomorrow amidst tight security arrangements with thousands of para-military and police personnel guarding polling stations and sanitizing the surrounding areas to thwart militant threats of boycott call.
Eighteen Municipal bodies including one Council and 17 Committees in six districts of Jammu regions–Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Udhampur, Reasi and Kathua and five Urban Local Bodies in equal number of districts of Kashmir valley will go to polls tomorrow, sealing the fate of 1029 candidates in the Electronic Voting Machines. Sixty-five candidates have been elected unopposed in the second phase.
Official sources said that para-military and police personnel in adequate numbers and polling staff have been stationed in polling stations of all 13 districts well in advance and sanitization operations in areas surrounding the poll-bound localities were being conducted to ward off the possibility of any terror attack.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shaleen Kabra said out of 263 Wards going to polls, 49 were in Kashmir and 214 in Jammu while 881 candidates were contesting in Jammu and 148 in Kashmir for Phase-II. In tomorrow’s voting, a total of 3,46,980 voters will be involved. Of them 1,28,104 electorates are in Jammu and 2,18,876 in Kashmir.
“General, Expenditure and Micro Observers have been deployed at all polling stations especially those designated as hypersensitive and sensitive,” Kabra said,.
Deputy Commissioner Doda, Simrandeep Singh, who also happened to be the District Election Officer, told the Excelsior that all arrangements for smooth conduct of polling in three Municipal Committees of the district including Doda (17 Wards), Bhaderwah (13 Wards) and Thathri (7 Wards) have been made. A total of 37 polling stations have been set up for 13,000 electorates in the three bodies, he added.
Fifty candidates were in fray for Doda Municipal Committee (MC), 48 for Bhaderwah MC and 16 for Thathri MC. Seventeen polling stations in the district have been declared as hypersensitive and sensitive, Simrandeep said.
Two Municipal Committees of Reasi district including Reasi MC and Katra MC, both having 13 Wards each and 26 polling stations will have voting tomorrow, Deputy Commissioner Reasi, Prasanna Ramaswamy G said.
Prasanna said 10,403 electorates were eligible to cast votes to elected 26 Councilors from out of a total of 95 candidates in the fray. Reasi MC has 4695 electorates and Katra MC 5708, he added.
District Udhampur has three Urban Local Bodies including Udhampur Municipal Council with 21 Wards, Ramnagar MC with 13 Wards and Chenani MC with 7 Wards.
Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Ravinder Kumar said Udhampur district has 35,456 electorates, the highest being 30,166 in Udhampur MC followed by 3885 in Ramnagar and 1405 in Chenani and, for them the administration has set up 68 polling stations, 61 of which were sensitive.
Highest numbers of 125 candidates were in fray for Udhampur MC and 47 and 20 respectively for Ramnagar and Chenani MCs, Kumar said, adding that Zonal and Sector Magistrates have been deployed for all three Committees to monitor the polling throughout the day.
SSP Ramban Anita Sharma said all security arrangements have been made for three Municipal bodies of the district going to polls tomorrow which included Ramban, Banihal and Batote MCs. Adequate number of para-military and police personnel have been deployed in the polling stations and surrounding areas, she added.
All three Committees have 7 Wards each but only four Wards of Banihal MC would go to vote as three candidates have been elected unopposed. A total of 6606 electorates were eligible for voting. Batote has highest number of 26 candidates followed by Ramban 24 and Banihal eight, Sharma said.
Kishtwar district has only one Municipal Committee named Kishtwar MC, based on 13 Wards and 9125 electorates, Deputy Commissioner Kishtwar, Angrez Singh Rana said, adding that 11 polling stations of the Committee have been declared as hypersensitive while two others were sensitive.
A total of 53 candidates were in fray for 13 seats, Rana said.
SSP Kishtwar Rajinder Gupta after checking each and every polling station of Kishtwar MC, said special nakas have been laid in Kishtwar town and outskirts and Quick Reaction Team have been deployed to meet with any eventuality.
“Heavy deployment of paramilitary and police has been made in all Wards. A Sector Magistrate has been deployed in each Ward,” he said.
District Kathua has highest number of six Municipal Bodies among all districts going to polls tomorrow.
Deputy Commissioner Kathua Rohit Khajuria said the district administration has set up 112 polling stations for six Municipal bodies and, of them, 15 have been declared as hypersensitive and 45 sensitive.
A total of 55074 electorates of the six bodies will decide fate of 168 candidates, Khajuria said.
Kathua Municipal Council has 21 Wards while Hiranagar, Basohli, Billawar and Nagri Parole MCs have 13 Wards each. Lakhanpur MC was based on 7 Wards for which elections will be held for six Wards only as one candidate in the Committee has been declared elected as unopposed, Khajuria added.
Our Srinagar Correspondent adds:- Ahead of the crucial second phase of the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) elections in Kashmir including 20 Wards of sensitive Srinagar, the authorities have made elaborate security arrangements to ensure smooth conduct of the polls.
The second phase of polls is being held in the backdrop of strike call given by separatist leaders in the polling areas of Srinagar in Kashmir.
Security arrangements have been put in place for smooth conduct of the second phase of elections which will take place from 6 am to 4 pm tomorrow. Security forces including Police and CRPF besides being deployed in the Polling Station areas have been asked for area domination in 20 Wards of Srinagar and in parts of other districts where the Municipalities are going to polls.
Police said it has intensified vehicle checking, frisking of pedestrians and area domination in Srinagar city and other poll-bound urban pockets in Kashmir valley to avert any untoward incident or possible militant attacks. Check points have been set up to check private and public transport vehicles for possible movement of the militants especially from South Kashmir to Srinagar.
Director General of Police Dilbag Singh today reviewed the security situation ahead of the second phase of the Municipal elections and directed the police to ensure security of both the contestants and voters.
The senior Superintendent of Police Handwara, Ashish Mishara told Exceslior that police is fully prepared and security is as per requirements. “People should feel secure and come out and vote. There is adequate security for polling staff, polling stations and the voter”, he added.
The 20 Wards of Srinagar which are going to polls tomorrow are Solina, Aloochibagh, Sheikh Dawood Colony, Ziyarat Batmaloo, Karan Nagar, Shaheed Gunj, Chattabal, Bemina East, Bemina West, Nundreshi Colony, Parimpora, Zainakote, Lawypora, Mujgund, Tankipora, Syed Ali Akbar, Basant Bagh, Fateh Kadal and Munnawarabad.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
