Fayaz Bukhari
BARAMULLA, May 7: Amid stone pelting, protest, boycott and brisk polling in North Kashmir’s Baramulla constituency, 39.6 percent voters exercised their franchise with voters in the towns of Baramulla and Bandipora districts mostly staying away from polls and Kupwara district witnessing brisk polling.
The poll staff and security forces had tough time since last evening as protesters put them on tenterhooks. Police, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Army fought pitched battles with protesters in Sopore, Baramulla, Palhalan, Bandipora, Hajan and several other localities to ensure people come out to vote.
At least two dozen persons including one dozen poll staff were injured in stone pelting in Baramulla constituency when youth pelted stones at the polling staff and security forces soon after voting ended this evening. The injured poll staff included Javed Ahmad, Asadullah and Syed Mukhtar. One protester was also injured in firing at Sopore. At least one dozen vehicles were also damaged in stone pelting this evening.
The Chief Electoral Officer, Umang Narula told a press conference here that 39.6 percent of voters exercised their franchise in Baramulla Parliamentary constituency comprising 63.19 percent in Kupwara, 25.04 percent in Baramulla and 35.65percent in Bandipora districts. He said 64 percent voted in Leh and 65.8 percent in Kargil districts of Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency.
Narula said that 2147 polling stations were set up across both the Constituencies at 1878 different locations which included 132 critical polling stations, 1091 hypersensitive and 455 sensitive ones. He also said that web casting facility was available in 55 polling booths, besides 20 digital as well as 92 video cameras were installed for covering the poll process in these Constituencies.
The Chief Electoral Officer said that 4 General, 2 Expenditure, 2 Police and 2 Awareness observers were deployed besides as many as 257 Micro Observers across both the Parliamentary Constituencies.
Narula said that as many as 13726 polling personnel were deployed in these constituencies during today’s phase of electioneering adding that logistically the phase was challenging due to remoteness of various areas, as such number of air sorties were carried out to lift the polling parties directly to many polling stations.
Narula said that total number of electorate in this phase was 13,57,321 and 19 candidates were in the fray.
In the meantime, the figures of the Election Commission of India reveal that 4, 79, 053 votes were polled out of 11, 90, 766 votes in Baramulla constituency.
The figures reveal that in Kupwara district out of 3, 93, 400 votes 2, 46, 471 were polled. In Karnah Assembly segment 23345 votes were polled out of 32, 611 votes. In Kupwara Assembly segment 72, 905 votes were polled out of 1, 05, 219 votes. In Lolab Assembly segment 58, 045 votes were polled out of 97,906 votes. In Handwara Assembly segment 58, 866 votes were polled out of 88, 028 votes. In Langate Assembly segment 33, 313 votes were polled out of 69,636 votes.
The overall poll percentage Assembly segments of Karnah, Kupwara, Lolab, Handwara and Langate is 70.84, 69.29, 57.37, 69.92 and 47.84 respectively.
The figures suggest that in Baramulla district out of 5, 83, 753 votes 1, 46, 260 were polled. In Uri Assembly segment, 48, 000 votes were polled out of 73, 365 votes. In Rafiabad Assembly segment 17, 338 votes were polled out 79, 415. In Sopore Assembly segment 1. 050 votes were polled out of 1, 01, 958 votes. In Sangrama Assembly segment 11, 881 votes were polled out of 65, 449 votes. In Baramulla Assembly segment 19, 429 votes were polled out 81414 votes. In Gulmarg Assembly segment 27, 624 votes were polled out of 93, 628. In Pattan Assembly segment 20, 938 votes were polled out of 88, 524 votes.
The poll percentage of Uri, Rafiabad, Sopore, Sangrama, Baramulla, Gulmarg and Pattan 65.42, 21.83, 1.08, 18.07, 23.46, 29.50 and 23.65 is respectively.
The figures suggest that in Bandipora district 76, 303 votes were polled out of 2, 11, 967. In Gurez Assembly segment 8,342 votes were polled out of 17,278. In Bandipora Assembly segment 19, 737 votes were polled out of 96,674. In Sonawari assembly segment 48, 224 votes were polled out of 98, 015.
The poll percentage of Gurez, Bandipora and Sonawari is 48.28, 20.52 and 49.20 respectively.
There was mixed response of the voters to the polling in North Kashmir. With Kupwara district witnessing brisk polling, Bandipora moderate and Baramulla district low turnout.
In village Trehgam, in district Kupwara, the native village of JKLF founder, Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, who was sent to gallows in Tihar jail in 1984, enthusiasm among voters was high. Voters in long queues were waiting for their turn to cast their vote.
Mohammad Shafi, 70, of Trehgam village waiting for his turn at fag end of a long queue of over 50 people, said: “We shouldn’t waste our vote. Government will be formed, whether we vote or not. It is better to choose our candidate who can represent us in a better way.”
And in Seer Jagir, Sopore in district Baramulla, the native village of Afzal Guru, who was executed last year in February for attacking Parliament in 2001, the scene was quite contrary.
Erie silence prevailed in the village and polling station was deserted. Not a single vote was cast here. The Presiding Officer of Ghat Seer Jagir told Excelsior: “We don’t even have polling agents for political parties here.”
Afzal Guru’s wife, Tabasum, was not even figuring in the voter list. “She must have not registered herself in the voter list”, says Returning Officer of the Baramulla Parliamentary Constituency, Farooq Lone.
Outside the polling booth, a group of youth held protest demonstrations against the holding of elections and threw stones at the polling booth intermittently.
Dooru, Sopore, the native village of Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani, stayed away from polls while the adjoining villages of Dooru polled their votes. Youth also pelted stones at Dooru village leading to ding dong battles between police and paramilitary CRPF; and Army was called to restore calm.
At Government High School Dooru in polling booth 67 not a single voter turned up out of 781 voters. And situation at polling booth number 68 at Panchayat Ghar Dooru where 866 voters were registered was no different.
In Sopore town, 18 polling booths were in Degree College Sopore where 12, 043 voters had to exercise their franchise but only 5 turned up in the first six hours of polling. The polling staff was sleeping inside polling booths with security forces providing them cover in restive Sopore where intermittent stone pelting was going on.
In Palhalan village an Improvised Explosive Device went off when at around 8:05 a.m. today sending the poll staff for cover. A CRPF officer told Excelsior that it was a low intensity IED planted outside the Government Girls Higher Secondary School Palhalan in which one CRPF man was injured.
Palhalan was looking like a virtual battle field with police, CRPF and Army patrolling the streets and people sitting inside with youth in between breaking the security cordon and pelting stones at the polling booths.
At six polling stations of Palhalan not a single vote was cast out of 5, 215 votes. The Presiding officer of Palhalan 9E, Farooq Ahmad, said that the poll staff arrived at Polling Booths in the morning. “We are terrified as window panes of the polling booth were broken in intermittent stone pelting throughout the day”, said Ahmad.
At Baramulla Kashmiri Pandit Colony not a single person voted. There are around 400 adults living in the colony but they were not listed. Avtar Krishan Bhat said: “We wanted to vote but we are being ignored. We wanted to vote for a candidate who could think about pathetic our condition.”
In Singhpora in the outskirts of Baramulla town, a Sikh dominated village, people voted for change. Rajinder Singh, 55, said: “Government has not done anything for minorities. We want to a change.”
Eighty year old Jabbar Bhat who walked one kilometer to cast his vote in Singhpora said: “We should make use of our vote. Last time we voted but there was no development in our village. This time I hope something will happen.”
The brisk polling in Kupwara and low turnout in Baramulla has made the contest in the Baramulla constituency interesting. The contest seems to be triangular between NC candidate, Sharifudin Shariq, PDP candidate Muzaffar Baig and People’s Conference candidate, Salamudin Bajad.
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