J-K panchayat poll: 74.1% turnout

Tribune News Service
Jammu/Srinagar, November 17

Voters in the rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir today defied terror threats and poll boycott call by separatists while exercising their franchise in large numbers in the first phase of the nine-phased panchayat polls. 

Chief Electoral Officer Shaleen Kabra said the overall voting percentage was 74.1 per cent, which has set the stage for the revival of grassroots democracy in rural belts after urban local bodies (ULBs)  witnessed an overall 35.1 per cent polling last month. Kashmir valley’s overall poll percentage remained at 62.1 per cent. 

A total of 16 blocks spread over six districts of the Valley went to the polls in the first phase. The polling process ended peacefully without any reports of untoward incidents from any part.

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) group of separatists had called for a shutdown in Kashmir valley against the panchayat poll while the two mainstream political parties — National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party — had decided to stay away even though the elections are being held on a non-party basis. In Kashmir, the highest poll percentage of 71.94 was recorded in Kupwara district, followed by 69.1 per cent in Baramulla and 55.7 per cent in Bandipora. 

The major impact of the shutdown was witnessed in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, where only 11.9 per cent voters turned up at the polling booths. In the other two districts comprising Srinagar and Budgam, the polling percentage was 21.8 per cent and 30.1 per cent, respectively.

Jammu region’s seven districts, including the mountainous Udhampur and Doda districts with 83.6 per cent and 80.8 per cent respectively, were joined by the cold desert region of Ladakh’s Kargil with 70.9 per cent and Leh following with 59.7 per cent in openly defying the boycott call. 

Drass, the world’s second coldest inhabited place, recorded 64 per cent voting while voters in the snowbound Ladakh areas braved all weather vagaries to elect their representatives at the grassroots level.

A total of 5,585 candidates are trying their luck for 420 seats of sarpanch and 1,845 of panch in the first phase. 

As many as 1,761 candidates had been elected unopposed for both sarpanch and panch seats. Polling took place at 3,296 polling stations, including 1,303 in Kashmir division and 1,993 in Jammu division.

Kupwara 71.9% 
Ladakh 65.5%
Jammu 79.4%