ANANTNAG: A Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militant was arrested after a brief encounter in the wee hours of Thursday in this south Kashmir district, official sources said.
They said a naka party challenged militants at Gund Baba Khaleel, Anantnag roun 0200 hrs. However, militants opened fire, they said adding security forces at the naka also retaliated.
Later, a militant identified as Zaheer Abbas Lone, a resident of Pulwama was found in an injured condition. Additional security forces were immediately rushed to the area and a massive Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) was launched.
A police spokesman said the injured militant has been admitted to hospital. Further details are awaited, he said.(Agencies)
Injured HM militant held after brief encounter in Anantnag
Farmers’ strike has notable lessons
K N Pandita The recent strike by sections of PunjabHaryana farmers may not arguably pass for a nationwide strike. Nevertheless, some political opposition parties and those with vested interest tried to expand the strike to other states as well. Thus behind the cover of farmers’ protest, these political parties have been trying to challenge the sovereignty of the Parliament. It is politics of disruption and not of nation-building. However, notwithstanding its geophysical aspects, we should not shy away from making a dispassionate analysis of the upsurge because for more than one reason it is a notable event in the contemporary political history of India. To bring pressure on the Modi Government thousands of farmers from the states of Punjab and Haryana blocked the main entry and exit routes to the capital city of Delhi and paralyzed the entire transport system. They refused to assemble at a specific open space in the town where the Home Ministry was prepared to provide them with logistic facilities so that normal traffic was not disrupted. Most of the farmers came on their tractors, trucks, wagons and cars purposefully to strengthen the siege of the highways. They carried with them eatables, furnishing and bedding etc. The Clarion India of 27th November reported that “distribution of food to agitating farmers through mosques in Delhi continued for the second day on Friday. At least 25 mosques are also geared up to host the farmers for the night stay, according to Nadeem Khan of the United Against Hate (UAH) which has made the arrangements.” Interestingly, the photos of Omar Khalid, of “Hindustan ke tukde tukde kardenge” slogan at JNU were displayed from the rostrum demanding his release. The protesting crowds refused to accept food and tea arranged by the government as a gesture of courtesy. This indicates that the bundh was meticulously planned and it is not a fitful reaction to the new laws. Politically oriented anti-government and antiModi slogans were raised frequently. It showed that the protestors designed to score a political victory by ousting Modi Government and not get their grievances redressed. The dharna reminded one of Shaheen Bagh episode. Political undertones of the dharna were conspicuously eloquent. The activists of opposition parties grabbed the opportunity and almost hijacked the protest rally. In the garb of protesting farmers, they began delivering threats to the government from the farmers’ platform. The Home Minister addressed the media channels that the welfare and safeguarding the interests of the farmers was the foremost priority with the Modi government and the new laws passed by the parliament were strictly in their interest. He added that in the past dissenting political parties had demanded passing of these laws. The Modi government took the initiative and brought to completion a task which his predecessors had once mulled over. He assured that the government was prepared to talk to the representatives of the farmers on the issue. This assurance was given by the Home Minister publicly. Several rounds of talks were held but with no concrete result. As the interaction proceeded, the disgruntled farmers continued their hostility, raising unbecoming slogans. The norms of addressing the government or the Prime Minister were thrown to the wind. One got the impression that the farmers had not come really to get their problems solved but wanted to pour out disgust against the government. All opposition parties came out in support of the protesting farmers. In such a situation, any responsible opposition would play a mature role to de-escalate tension and normalize the atmosphere. It would lend its helping hand in bringing about an amicable settlement of the issues involved. But unfortunately, the opposition parties, whether on national or on a regional level, began acting like hungry wolves to seek their pound of flesh. Their all efforts converged on bringing about the downfall of the government and not redressing the grievances of the farmers if any. The lesson one can figure out from this situation is that despite seventy-three years of democracy, our nationalist sentiment is frail and vulnerable to the claptrap of political rant. One more lesson that we should learn from this event is that only a very thin line separates self-aggrandizement from nationalist predilection. Party workers can go to any length in removing the elected government instead of removing the hardships facing people or those in the way of a sincere elected government in alleviating the grievances of the people. When dialogue between the government and the farmers did not make headway, the Congress President, playing the politics of vendetta, gave a call for Bharat bundh. Don’t forget that the culture of Bharat bundh is closely associated with the Congress, tracing its history to the days of the freedom movement. But curiously, shorn of its traditional popularity and bereft of its spatial dimension, the present Congress remains unfazed by a call it gave with no takers. Who are the ring leaders of the protest dramatics and what is their motivation, is a very pertinent question? Knowledgeable sources are of the opinion that a variety of stakeholders have jumped on the bandwagon and the entire show is almost a replication of Shaheen Bagh episode. Most of the ring leaders from Punjab are wellknown affluent Leftists with clout in the Punjab peasantry. The Congress, after its defeat in two successive parliamentary elections, has abandoned the standard role of genuine opposition in and outside the parliament and taken a hostile and antagonistic role bordering on a personal vendetta. Disrupting the sessions of the Parliament, opposing every bill brought by the ruling party irrespective of its merits and demerits, contradicting all facts and figures provided officially by the government to the parliament, undermining the mega developmental projects envisaged by the government and criticizing the government for its domestic as well as foreign policy without understanding the nuances, that is the attitude adopted by the party now at the backbenches in the parliament. Not only that. The Congress loyalists and beneficiaries of expatriate Indians, especially in the UK and USA, have embarked on a massive antiModi mission and are whipping up class, sectarian and communal passions among the broad sections of Indian society by manipulating media and other sources of public information. The Khalistanis are working hand in glove with the Pakistanis in foreign capitals in encouraging antiIndia protest rallies, whipping up sectarian passions by publicizing fake and false stories or visuals to malign the Indian government. A close study of their activities will reveal that there is only the personal vendetta against Modi and no word about the so-called stifling of the farmers. It is to be noted that under the new law, farmers have the freedom of selling their products to any buyer, private or public, without any hindrance. The need to introduce the new law arose because some middlemen were not only amassing mountains of wealth by way of commission from the government and favours from the farmers but were reported to be misusing the enormous amounts in various activities that were not at all desirable as far as the national security is concerned. The middlemen have created a mafia that would want to prevent the farmers from selling the crops to a buyer ready to pay a higher price to the benefit of the farmers. It is this mafia which has given space to terrorists, anti-national elements, moles of international terrorism and drug trafficking. As the agitators continue with the strike, more and more information about their handlers is coming to light. The curious thing is that the protesting farmers are unaware who is driving them, through what mechanism and to what purpose. Even educated and informed persons within contemporary Indian society are unable to understand and analyze the mechanism of radicals trying to strike at the roots of Indian polity. This is a battle between the radical forces with vested interest and self-aggrandizement on the one hand and those of nationalists supporting the uniform distribution of wealth to the benefit of entire Indian society on the other. The former has unleashed a vicious international disinformation campaign to malign the Modi government. They are active in the US, UK, and Canada. Their problem is a simple one. The source of loot and vandalizing of public property has been brought under check by the new agricultural laws passed by the Parliament. This law disallows the concentration of capital outside the public domain. It is a death knell to the monopolization of sources of production. They managed to put the farmers in the vanguard and have now hijacked the entire movement so much so that the farmers are unable to see through their perfidy. feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
J&K Bank conducts DLRC meet
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 16: District Development Commissioner (DDC) Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary chaired J&K Bank’s District Consultative Committee/District Level Review Committee (DCC/DLRC) meeting to review the progress made during the quarter ended September, 2020 under Annual Credit Plan 2020-21.
The meeting was attended by Chief Planning Officer Srinagar, DDM NABARD, senior functionaries of line departments and banks operating in the district.
J&K Bank was represented by Zonal Head Kashmir Central 1 Syed Rais Maqbool, LDM Srinagar Abdul Majid Bhat, Cluster Heads Shabir Ahmad Bhat and Riaz Ahmad Wani and Director RSETI Mahjabeen Mir.
While highlighting the overall performance for the period under review LDM informed the committee that banks operating in the district have provided a total credit of Rs 2459.60 cr benefitting as many as 64461 borrowers under Priority and Non-priority Sectors. He stated that an achievement of 46 per cent in physical terms and 40 per cent in financial terms was registered against annual targets.
He added that Credit Deposit Ratio in the district stood at 53 per cent at the end of the second quarter.
“Rs 329.32 cr have been disbursed by the banks amongst 14823 beneficiaries under PM Mudra Yojana scheme with J&K bank being the main contributor with 94 per cent credit disbursement,” he said adding that 1187 street vendors availed Rs 118.70 lakh loan facility under PM Svanidhi scheme with 1092 facilitated by J&K Bank.
On the occasion, the DDC also advised Banks and line departments to make general public aware of the various employment generation schemes besides lend their necessary support in providing hassle free loans under Mudra, Housing, Education, PMEGP etc. He also instructed Banks and concerned line departments to work in a coordinated manner to ensure smooth implementation of schemes and achievement of targets.
Lt Governor reviews implementation of PMDP projects
‘Ensure no unnecessary delays hamper completion’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 16: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today reviewed the progress of Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) projects in a high-level meeting at Civil Secretariat.
Chief Secretary B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, Financial Commissioner (Finance) Arun Kumar Mehta, Financial Commissioner (Health) Atal Dulloo, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor Nitishwar Kumar, Administrative Secretaries of various departments besides senior officers from NHAI, BRO, Jal Shakti, PWD, PDD, Tourism, Horticulture, etc. were present in the meeting.
During the meeting, the Lt Governor sought a comprehensive report of the sector-wise implementation of 54 projects sanctioned under PMDP with an outlay of Rs 58,627 crores and reviewed the Financial and Physical progress achieved so far.
Secretary Disaster Management Relief, Rehabilitation & Reconstruction (DMRRR) gave a PowerPoint presentation and informed the Chair about the present status of PMDP projects of various departments and iconic projects including Health, Education, Tourism, Horticulture, Sports, Jal Shakti, PWD, and Housing & Urban Development.
The Lt Governor was apprised about various major projects including upgrading of Uri-Poonch road, Srinagar-Leh road via Kargil, special repair of roads and bridges, projects proposed under Bharat Mala for the length of 105 KM for tourist connectivity, Jammu-Akhnoor-Poonch road, construction of semi-ring roads in Jammu and Srinagar, AIIMS at Jammu/Kashmir, construction of IIM Jammu and IIT Jammu, etc.
Secretary DMRRR informed that 11 projects have been completed and 9 are substantially completed whereas 34 projects are at different stages of execution out of which 19 shall be completed by ending 2021.
The Lt Governor also reviewed the progress of Iconic projects which included Hydro-electric Projects (HEP) of Kiru, Kwar, Shahpur Kandi, and Ujh.
Laying special emphasis on the timely execution of the projects, the Lt Governor directed the Administrative Secretaries to closely monitor the execution of all PMDP projects and have a regular review of the progress made thereof in order to remove the bottlenecks if any.
The Lt. Governor passed strict directions for speeding up on the ground implementation for early completion of the works. The Lt. Governor also called for regular monitoring and submission of progress report on a monthly basis.
“Sectoral progress should be monitored regularly to avoid unnecessary delay”, he maintained. The Lt Governor asked the concerned officers to incorporate every detail of the projects including date of sanction, date of start of work, present status and targeted date of completion for effective monitoring.
People voted heavily in Udh, Reasi in hope of development, getting better basic facilities
Govind Sharma
JAMMU, Dec 16: Braving morning chill and cold weather, voters came out in large numbers to cast their vote in DDC constituencies, Katra and Panthal of Reasi district and Udhampur II and Tikri of Udhampur district, with the hope of getting fulfilled all their demands regarding basic living facilities and developmental projects.
The heavy rush of voters was seen on the polling booths established in DDC constituencies Katra and Panthal, with the later recording over 80 pc turnout while over 70 pc polling was recorded in Katra.
Sudershan Singh, a 35-year-old voter, after casting his vote at polling station Aghar Jitto, expressed hope that DDC elections will usher a new era in the development of Rural J&K. He said that Baridaars issue is one of the major issues in this constituency and the DDC candidates have assured them to resolve the same.
Supporting him, Rajinder Singh (36 years) and Rakesh Kumar (30 years) from the same polling station, said that Baridaars have been deprived of their rights by taking away the control of the Vaishno Devi shrine from their hands and vested it in the hands of the Shrine Board.
“Apart from this, there are others issues also like construction of community hall, issuance of monthly pass for Bann Toll Plaza, etc. We have casted votes in the hope that our elected representatives will try to solve these issues on priority,” they added.
Coming out of the polling station Tanda of Katra DDC Constituency, a 20-year-old youth namely Zaffar said, “We have a lot of problems here, especially bad roads. He said that the roads leading from Drah to Tobnia Mohalla and Drah to High School Tanda are in extremely dilapidated condition and I hope that the winning candidate will keep his promise of constructing these roads at the earliest”.
Parveen Akhter, a 30-year-old voter at polling station Dera, while highlighting the benefits of holding DDC elections, said it was difficult for people to contact the MLA or MP who has a vast area to look after but now people can meet DDC members easily and highlight their problems for redressal.
Heavy rush of voters was seen in front of polling booths in Panthal DDC constituency of Reasi. The authorities had made all arrangements on polling booths including sanitization, social distancing and thermo checking.
Sunny Khajuria, a young voter at polling station Panthal regretted that Magnesite project at Panthal is closed since long. He said the buildings are there but the project is yet to be started. “This project will directly or indirectly generate employment within the area,” he said and hoped that the winning DDC candidate will do all out efforts to start the project. While highlighting other issues, Sunny said that Devi Pindi a famous religious and tourist place of the area needs to be developed on modern lines.
Another young voter, Nitin said that there should be some reservation and quota for locals in SMVDU and Narayana Hospital. “We have casted votes in the hope that our elected representatives will take up our demands with the concerned authorities and try to fulfill them.
Suresh Kumar from Panthal said that some projects of much importance had already completed here including Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Narayana Hospital etc but many pending developmental projects are yet to be started. He expressed hope that these projects will be started after DDC elections
The first time voter Awantika at Kakrayal polling station said she is overwhelmed after casting her vote for the first time and taking part in the democratic process of the country. He was supported by Rakesh Kumar, another young voter.
In DDC constituencies Tikri and Udhampur II, majority of the people casted vote on issues of development of roads, drinking water facilities, etc. “People of about 15 villages, particularly students and sick people have been suffering most for last one year due to breakage of Dudar Bridge at village Jib Thathi,” said Kishore Sharma, after casting his vote at polling station Government Middle School Seen Bramna. He said with the hope that the bridge will be constructed soon by the winning DDC candidate, he has come to cast his vote.
Priyanka Devi, an educated housewife standing in a queue outside polling station GMS Mand said that people of her village is still struggling a lot to get drinking water. “We have to walk 5 to 8 kilometres to bring a pot of drinking water from natural resources as 70 % of hand pumps are not working in the village,” she said and expressed hope of getting resolved this major issue on priority by the winning DDC candidate.
Similar issue was highlighted by Rajni Bala at polling station GMS Kambal Dangha. She said that even after seven decades of getting independence from the British rulers, we are living a miserable life. “There is no proper drinking water and power facilities in our village and women have to travel 3-4 kilometres of distance on foot to bring potable water from a natural resource,” she regretted and added that people of their village didn’t want to vote but on the assurance of one of the DDC candidates that all our problems will be redressed, we have come to cast our votes.
“For last around one year, we have not been provided subsidized Kerosene oil due to which poor families which are totally dependent on it for cooking their food, have been suffering a lot,” said Bansi Lal at a polling station of Udhampur II DDC constituency. “Poor people like me do not have big dreams, we just want basic facilities but that too our representatives in the past failed to provide us. I hope after DDC election, we will get all the basic facilities,” he added.
Cong, NC candidates keeping their leaders away from campaign: Dr Jitendra
Excelsior Correspondent
RAMBAN, Dec 16: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said here today that Congress and National Conference (NC) candidates are discreetly keeping their party leaders away from the election campaign for District Development Councils (DDCs).
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Addressing a public meeting in the far – flung remote area of Rajgarh where BJP is facing a contest both from Congress as well as National Conference, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the most interesting feature is that Congress candidates are not inclined to invite their Central leaders like Rahul Gandhi or PCC President to campaign for them because of apprehension that this might antagonise the voters. Similarly, the National Conference candidates do not want to invite their top leaders like Farooq Abdullah or Omar Abudullah to campaign for them because of the fear that by doing so they may rather lose some votes instead of adding.
While District Development Council elections happening for the first time in Jammu & Kashmir, said Dr. Jitendra Singh, have heralded a new chapter in the history of democracy, these elections have also, for the first time, exposed the unique inner contradictions afflicting the opposition parties. Most of these candidates, he said, are avoiding using pictures of their leaders on posters and are also displaying their party symbol very discreetly and selectively.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, this turn of events is a testimony to the fact that the opposition parties have also, in heart of hearts, accepted that Narendra Modi is the tallest leader among all, who enjoys following across the party lines. Interestingly, he said, some of the opposition candidates have also been found secretly whispering into the voter’s ear that they too are Modi followers.
Referring to unprecedented development in the last six years, Dr Jitendra Singh said, before 2014 there was no proper road connectivity with Rajgarh and many a time we had to go back because of a sudden landslide midway. However, he said, in the last four years there has been an upgradation of road along with blacktopping and Rajgarh is not only connected with Ramban but also connected with Kastigarh by road.
In the education sector, Dr Jitendra Singh said, that this region has been given three Degree Colleges in the last four years. He accused the earlier public representatives for deliberately obstructing development as well as wider exposure of the people living in remote areas, so that they could continue their own hagemony and dominance.
Senior BJP leader Munish Sharma, who is party’s election incharge here, also spoke on the occasion.
BJP will get decisive mandate in DDC elections: Anurag Thakur
Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, Dec 16: Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir DDC elections, has stated, that the people of J&K will give BJP a decisive mandate in DDC elections and reinforce that ballot is mightier than the bullet.
Along with other BJP leaders, Anurag Thakur was addressing an election rally at Samba.
Thakur said, “Our campaign has been only about development and our track record under Prime Minister, Narendra Modi shows we can deliver time bound results for socio-economic growth. Ever since the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, we have prepared and implemented a development oriented roadmap for J&K. We want an inclusive, participatory form of governance and we will encourage the youth to take up leadership roles in this process,” he added.
Thakur said “In the recently concluded Hyderabad Municipal polls we won 48 seats this time in comparison to four in 2016. In the State of Rajasthan, the BJP won 1989 seats out of 4371 Panchayat Samiti seats. The incumbent Congress received 1852 seats, this shows a clear lack of trust for the party and its activities. In fact in the Zila Parishad elections, the BJP won 353 seats in comparison to the Congress 252 seats,” he added.
He said “In the by-elections of UP, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh swell we saw how people reposed their faith in BJP. Even in the local elections in Goa, we got a decisive mandate. This clearly shows a strong wave of support in favour of the BJP at all levels of the democratic system. BJP fights elections with all the energy of its Karyakartas and supporters. We win because we serve the interest of people, we set targets and deliver development as per timelines, we keep the public at the centre of all our policies,” he added.
Thakur further said, it is a fact that the Gupkar Alliance leaders looted the erstwhile State of its resources, it is also a fact they neglected basic healthcare, education, infrastructure, employment needs of J&K. There is dejection amongst the Karyakartas of the Alliance because the Gupkar leaders have already been rejected by the people, he added.
Thakur said, “Previously we have seen how the Gupkaris discouraged citizens from participating in the electoral process. They created an atmosphere of fear. The voting percentage was barely 3-5% and today the J&K region gets 40-50% voter turnout. This is because people have faith in PM, Narendra Modi’s politics of hope and development for J&K,” he added.
Polling in Jammu breaks record of 6 phases, crosses 70 pc first time
Protests over ‘rigging’, DC sends report; 6 suspended, probe ordered
*Fate of 150 including bigwigs sealed in ballot boxes
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 16: Voting percentage in seventh phase of the District Development Council (DDC) elections held for 18 seats spread over 10 districts of the Jammu region today broke all records by recording 71.9 percent voting, the highest for any phase so far in the ongoing electoral exercise while Poonch district became the first district to touch milestone of 80 percent polling.
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However, in another first, the polling was today marked by large scale protests in both the constituencies of Poonch district including Mendhar-A and Mendhar-B over the charges of booth capturing with many candidates joining hands and blocking Jammu-Poonch road at Mendhar demanding re-poll in some booths and action against those responsible for alleged rigging. Protests ended late tonight after District Magistrate Poonch Rahul Yadav and SSP Ramesh Angral ordered action against local civil and police officials and the DM sent report to the State Election Commissioner (SEC) on the allegations leveled by the candidates.
Significantly, six districts of the Jammu region reported above 70 percent voting.
Poonch district scored 80.12 percent voting, the highest in any district so far in all seven phases of the DDC elections while Doda district had lowest polling of 58.82 percent in the Jammu region today. Voting percentage in other districts was 69.8 (Kishtwar), 75.6 (Udhampur), 68.6 (Jammu), 72.8 (Kathua), 67.7 (Ramban), 74.3 (Samba), 73.1 (Rajouri) and 76.7 (Reasi).
Overall voting percentage in Jammu and Kashmir today stood at 57.2
In Jammu region, voting percentage was 64 in Phase-I which went up to 65.5 in second phase, 68.8 in third and 69.3 in fourth before coming down to 66.6 in fifth but again rose to 68.5 in sixth and was the highest in seventh phase today at 71.9.
Fate of 150 candidates was today sealed in ballot boxes for 18 DDC constituencies in Jammu including many bigwigs like Sham Choudhary, former Cabinet Minister from BJP, Tarlok Singh Bajwa, ex Rajya Sabha member of PDP and Congress candidate, Taranjit Singh Tony, Independent and Naresh Kumar Bittu (National Conference), all in Suchetgarh, former BJP MLA Prof Gharu Bhagat and Bushan Dogra, former Vice Chairman in Minister of State rank from RS Pura, Independent Charanjit Singh Jasrotia, former MLA and Ragunandan Singh Jasrotia (BJP) in Kathua, former MLC Tassaduq Hussain of PDP from Rajouri, ex MLA from Mendhar Rafiq Khan’s son Nadeem Khan of PDP in Mendhar-A constituency, an IAS officer’s father, who was an Independent candidate and Advocate Nazir Choudhary of NC in Mendhar-B among others.
Eighteen seats which went to polls today include Drabshalla-A and Drabshalla-B (Kishtwar), Bhalla (Doda), Ramban-A and Ramban-B (Ramban), Katra and Panthal (Reasi), Tikri and Udhampur-II (Udhampur), Kathua and Nagri (Kathua), Sumb (Samba), RS Pura and Suchetgarh (Jammu), Rajouri and Seri (Rajouri) and Mendhar-A and Mendhar-B (Poonch).
Trouble erupted in Mendhar town when seven candidates, contesting the election from Mendhar-B seat in Poonch district, along with their supporters, reached Yaadgaar Chowk in Mendhar town and blocked Mendhar-Jammu and Mendhar-Poonch roads in protest against what they alleged booth capturing by Independent candidate Wazid Bashir Khan and his supporters at two polling stations of Sakhi Maidaan. They burnt tyres and blocked vehicular movement demanding re-poll in two polling stations, suspension of the polling officials posted in the two booths and action against Wazir and his supporters whom they charged with capturing the booths and rigging the elections.
Initially, the local officers of civil and police administration tried to persuade the candidates and their supporters to lift the dharna but the protesters didn’t budge. Later, senior officers also reached the spot.
District Magistrate Poonch Rahul Yadav told the Excelsior that he has taken report from Presiding Officers of the two polling stations and will be sending detailed report based on feedback to the State Election Commissioner (SEC).
“It is the SEC which has to take decision on re-poll,” Yadav said.
SSP Poonch Ramesh Angral said situation is well under control though the people have refused to lift dharna till late tonight.
Seven candidates who along with their supporters joined the protests include Ghulam Nabi, Independent and father of an IAS officer, Advocate Nazir Choudhary (NC), Parveen Sarwar Khan (Congress), Tahir Ali Mirza (Apni Party), Mir Mohammad (BJP), Aquib Khan and Habibullah Khan, both Independents.
Late tonight, the DC Poonch ordered suspension of six officials on the basis of representation of contesting candidates and attached them to his office. He ordered that Additional DDC Poonch will conduct inquiry into the allegations and submit report within a week.
The suspended officials include Afzal Bashir, Medical Assistant, Amjit Bashir, Physical Education Teacher, Shahid Bashir, Forest Protection Force, Mohammad Mushtaq, teacher, Sarfaraz Khan, Gang Coolie PWD and Murtaza Ali Mumtaz, Agriculture Assistant.
The SSP Poonch has also ordered an inquiry against SHO Mendhar Manzoor Ahmed Kohli which will be conducted by Additional SP Poonch Khalid Amin.
In Mendhar-A Territorial Constituency, supporters of National Conference leader Choudhary Haji Ballu clashed with activists of Independent candidate Baji Farooq, who had quit National Conference to contest the election as an Independent candidate after the seat went to PDP as per Gupkar Alliance agreement, at village Gursai. PDP leader Rafiq Khan’s son Nadeem Khan is the Gupkar candidate from Mendhar-A.
Two vehicles were damaged in the clash and two persons sustained minor injuries.
In Harni area of Mendhar-A seat, supporters of Baji Farooq protested against Nadeem Khan alleging booth capturing by his supporters.
However, protests at Gursai and Harni ended after officers from civil and police administration took written complaints from aggrieved supporters of the candidates.
Meanwhile, a number of polling booths in Mendhar-A and Mendhar-B constituencies of Poonch district and Seri in Rajouri district, located close to the Line of Control (LoC) and falling within shelling and firing range of Pakistan army, voted peacefully today with no ceasefire violations by Pakistan army.
Long queues could be seen at all polling stations close to the LoC including Dheri in Mendhar which was located ahead of the border fencing.
Lanjote, Upper Golad, Basooni and Malikpur polling stations in Mendhar were located close to the LoC and within firing and shelling range of Pakistan but voting everywhere passed off peacefully as there was no shelling or firing from across.
In Kalal, Deeng and some other booths which fall close to LoC in Seri seat of Rajouri district, the polling proceeded smoothly during the day.
A total of 2.7 lakh votes were cast in 18 Territorial constituencies of the Jammu region which went to polls today. A total of 784 polling stations had been set up by the State Election Commission for today’s voting in 18 seats of the region.
Addressing a press conference here this evening, State Election Commissioner KK Sharma said polling was by and large peaceful in 31 constituencies across Jammu and Kashmir today. He added that polling was held in 1852 polling stations including 1068 in Kashmir and 784 in Jammu.
Sharma said that counting of votes for Sarpanch and Panch constituencies, where by-polls were held today along with the DDC elections, was going on.
Sources said most of the results of Sarpanch and Panch seats were declared by tonight. However, counting of votes for the DDC elections will be taken up on December 22.
Hotel KC Residency hosts Christmas Cake Mixing party
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 16: The city is gearing up for the upcoming festive season and in keeping with the traditions of Yuletide, Hotel KC Residency Jammu, hosted the customary Christmas Cake Mixing party today at The Terrace Skylounge Restaurant.
During the ceremony, Rahul Jandial, Corporate General Manager led the team to mix an array of ingredients including Black currant, Golden Apricot, Rum Soaked Figs, Drunk Resins, Dates, Candied Orange Peel, Candied Ginger, Dry Cherries, Tutti Frutti, Candied Pumpkin, along with Rum & Brandy to make the perfect Christmas cake.
“Christmas is no fun without the traditional Christmas cake; and making this cake is no quick and easy task. Preparations begin months in advance. During this ceremony, the chefs and all our executives participate in this ritual. We consider this a ritual to usher in the festive season, the good tidings, happiness and lots of Christmas cakes” expressed Kaushal Sharma, Executive Chef.
Commenting on the occasion, Rahul Jandial, Corporate General Manager said, “Festivals break all boundaries and brings people together in celebration. The Christmas Cake Mixing dates back ages ago and in keeping with this tradition, we at K C Residency decided to host this customary tradition with a few of our close friends and in house guests”.