Srinagar: Voting for the second phase of the Municipal Elections began in Jammu and Kashmir at 6 am on Wednesday morning amid stringent security arrangements and a shutdown call by the Joint Resistance Leadership.
3:40 pm: 33 percent voting has been recording at the Municipal Committee Sumbal, the highest in the valley in the ongoing second phase of the ULB polls.
According to polling figures, the total votes polled in Sumbal till 3 pm were 2624—1392 male votes and 1232 female votes.
3:00 pm: According to the government, Poll percentage at 12 noon was:
Anantnag 0.8 per cent; Bandipora 22.2 per cent; Baramulla 3.7 per cent; Kupwara 3.3 per cent; Srinagar 1.4 per cent; Kishtwar 55.9 per cent; Doda 57.8 per cent; Ramban 62.9 per cent; Reasi 60.8 per cent; Udhampur 50.8 per cent; Kathua 59.4 per cent.
12:20 pm: Till noon, 22 percent voting took place in Sumbal area. Over 1700 people have cast their votes till noon in the area.
According to official figures, till 10:am 0.8 percent polling was recorded in Srinagar. In Anantnag, it was 0.6 percent. In Bandipora, it was 14.2 percent, Baramulla recorded 3.0 percent.
Till 9 am :12.43 percent votes were polled until 8 am in MC Banihal. Till 9:am 9.41 per cent votes were polled in Municipal Committee Sumbal and 2.61 per cent votes polled in MC Langate. In Batamaloo Ziyarat, 10 votes were recorded and in SD colony Batmaloo, the count was 4. In Aloochi Bagh, 66 votes were cast, in Karan Nagar, no vote was polled and in Solina, 143 votes were polled.
Till 9 am nine votes out of 10,000 were cast in Fateh Kadal in Downtown area of Srinagar.
Around 10:30 am, 14.16 per cent polling was recorded in MC Sumbal.
Officials said the voting would take place at 544 polling stations across the state and would end at 4 pm.
A total of 1,029 candidates – 881 in Jammu division and 148 in Kashmir division – are in the fray for 263 municipal wards, including 49 in Kashmir and 214 in Jammu.
A total of 65 candidates – 61 of them from Kashmir valley – have already won the polls uncontested, while in 56 wards all in the valley – no nomination was received, so no polling is taking place in those places, they said.
As many as 270 polling stations have been designated for voting in Kashmir Division and 274 in Jammu Division, they added.
The next phases will take place on October 13 and 16.
Both the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, the two biggest regional political outfits have decided to boycott the elections as they have asked the Government of India to clear its stand on the issue of Article 35-A.
Home Minister of India Rajnath Singh recently appealed political parties in Jammu and Kashmir to participate in the upcoming Panchayat and local body polls.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also decided not to participate in the polls keeping in view the prevailing situation in the valley.
State Secretary CPI(M) Ghulam Nabi Malik, in a statement said that despite majority of mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir deciding not to participate in these polls shows the arrogance of the BJP-led Central Government.
The Joint Resistance Leaders (JRL) while reiterating their call of ULB, Panchayat polls said that it is a “political gimmick to hoodwink international community”.
Congress, however decided to take part in the polls to keep ‘communal forces away.’
Moreover Sajad Lone’s Poeples Conference has also decided to take part in the upcoming civic polls.
The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said that the regional political parties have boycotted the upcoming Municipal and Panchayat elections due to fear, and added that they have apprehensions that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and National conference (NC) will field proxy candidates in the polls.
