Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 1: Stage was today set for second phase of voting in 18 Assembly segments of Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow with polling staff and security personnel taking control of all 2181 polling stations set up for 15.35 lakh electorates. Nine constituencies each in Jammu and Kashmir regions will go to polls in Phase-II after which polling will be completed in 33 out of 87 Assembly constituencies.
For second consecutive face, Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag will be monitoring conduct of elections in nine seats of Jammu tomorrow throughout the day and would return to New Delhi only after polling is completed at 4 pm.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Gen Suhag will reach here tomorrow morning and camp at 16 Corps Headquarters at Nagrota, where he will be briefed on security situation including the Assembly segments going to elections tomorrow. Both of them will fly to Rajouri and Akhnoor and meet the Army Commanders there to review the situation.
In first phase of polling on November 25, the Army chief had stayed in the Kashmir Valley throughout the day monitoring elections on 15 segments of the State. Tomorrow, he would be in Jammu during the voting on 18 seats and return to New Delhi only after voting is over in the State.
The Army chief’s visit assumed significance in the wake of terror attack in Arnia in which over dozen persons were killed followed by grenade attack at Lal Chowk in Srinagar and yesterday’s killing of Sarpanch.
Moreover, several Assembly segments including Karnah and Lolab in Kupwara districts and Mendhar and Poonch in Poonch district fall along the Line of Control (LoC), which will also have voting tomorrow and there were apprehensions that Pakistan Army could resort to firing during the voting.
For the purpose, administration has already drafted Contingency Plan under which the polling stations falling along the LoC would be relocated to safe places in case of any eventuality.
Ahead of tomorrow’s polling, a powerful IED blast rocked the LoC at Panjni Forward in Mendhar sector of Poonch district at 10.50 am today in which an Army soldier Rajinder Kumar of 6 Rajput was seriously injured. He was evacuated from the spot and shifted to 156 GH Rajouri, where from he was further airlifted to Command Hospital, Udhampur.
Sources didn’t rule out the possibility of the IED having been planted by the militants as the area of the blast was right on the LoC. Other jawans accompanying injured Rajinder Kumar had narrow escape in the blast.
A day before another powerful IED blast had taken place at Nangi Tekri on the LoC in Mendhar sector in which an Army vehicle was damaged.
Sources said Army has geared up the Counter Infiltration Grid after the terror strikes amidst reports that the militants could plan to cause more disturbances during the elections. Army and BSF were maintaining high alert on LoC and IB to prevent any kind of infiltration of the militants.
DIG Udhampur-Reasi range Gareeb Dass said 130 additional companies of para-military forces have been stationed in six Assembly constituencies of the two districts, which were going to polls tomorrow. In addition to this, the jawans of Indian Reserve Police and Jammu and Kashmir police have also been deployed in strength.
He said the polling parties in higher reaches like Chasana, Mahore, Gool and Gulabgarh in Reasi district were sent yesterday while in plain areas of the two districts, they were deputed today and have reached the polling stations. Para-military forces and police teams have also reached the polling stations and vulnerable areas to ensure peaceful polling. Six Assembly segments of Udhampur and Reasi districts will go to polls tomorrow along three constituencies of Poonch district, two of which fall along the LoC.
Nine segments of Kashmir including five in Kupwara district and four in Kulgam district will also have voting in Phase-II tomorrow.
Authorities have deployed about 400 additional companies of para-military forces-200 each for nine seats in Jammu and Kashmir regions.
Several high profile candidates including four Ministers, separatist leader Sajjad Lone, who has recently come close to the BJP and several sitting and former legislators were among 175 candidates in fray for December 2 voting, whose fate would be decided by 15.35 lakh electorates.
The campaign fever had heightened in this leg after 71.28 per cent voting in 15 seats during the first phase.
Among the candidates in the fray are four Ministers including Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Choudhary Mohammed Ramzan (Handwara), Social Welfare Minister Sakina Itoo (Noorabad), Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mir Saifullah (Kupwara) and Minister of State for Revenue Aijaz Khan (Gool Arnas).
Sajjad Lone is also in the fray from the Handwara Assembly constituency. Lone, who joined mainstream politics by contesting 2009 Lok Sabha polls, is making his debut in the Assembly polls. BJP has not fielded candidate in Handwara.
Though the campaigning for the second leg passed off peaceful, security arrangements have been tightened following a terrorist attack in Arnia on November 28 in which 12 people were killed and a grenade attack in Srinagar yesterday in which eight people were injured. Yesterday, militants had also triggered a blast targeting an army vehicle near LoC in Poonch, but the troops escaped unhurt.
Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Sartaj Madni (Devsar) and Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council Javed Rana (Mendhar) are also in the fray in the second phase.
All but two sitting MLAs are seeking re-election in the second phase. While Chaudhary Mohammad Aslam (Congress), who won in 2008 from Surankote, passed away this year, PDP has not fielded Sardar Rafiq Khan from Mendhar in view of his ill health and replaced him with Mohammad Mahroof Khan. Congress has fielded Aslam’s son-Choudhary Akram from Surankote.
Sakina Itoo is the only woman only woman minister in National Conference-led coalition Government.
Former ministers who are trying their luck are Harshdev Singh, Abdul Gani Malik, Jugal Kishore, Jagjivan Lal, Mushtaq Ahmed Bukhari, Nissar Khan and Abdul Gaffar Sofi.
The nine constituencies going to poll in Jammu included three in Reasi district (Gulabgarh, Reasi and Gool Arnas), three in Udhampur district (Udhampur, Chenani and Ramnagar) and three in Poonch (Surankote, Mendhar and Poonch- Haveli).
The nine constituencies in Kashmir Valley are Karnah, Kupwara, Lolab, Handwara and Langate in Kupwara district, and Noorabad, Kulgam, Home Shalibugh and Devsar in Kulgam district.
Polling for the 87-member seat is being held in five phases. The third phase of voting will be held on December 9, fourth phase on December 14 and fifth on December 20.
Counting of votes will be held on December 23.
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