Express News Service Posted online: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 at 1109 hours IST Updated: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 0040 hours IST
Srinagar, September 24: An estimated 42 per cent of the nearly 20 lakh voters exercised franchise in the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The Election Commission has said that militant attacks in the run up to the poll acted as a dampner on the turnout.
Deputy Election Commissioner Sayan Chatterjee said the second phase of polling in 28 constituencies covering 2160 polling stations in Jammu, Srinagar and Budgam districts on Tuesday was "by and large incident free".
"If militant attacks immediately prior to the polls was not there, the voting percentage would have been a little bit higher," Chatterjee said.
In keeping with the first phase, the pattern of high turnout in rural areas was followed in the second phase also, he said.
Unlike Srinagar, where voter turnout has as a rule always been low, voting in Budgam and Jammu was better. According to initial EC reports, the voter turnout in Jammu averaged 59 per cent, in Budgam 51 per cent and in Srinagar 11 per cent.
"No big incident was reported. Polling on Tuesday was by and large good," said Pramod Jain, Chief Electoral Officer of the state.
Heavily armed militants attacked a polling station in Chandoora constituency of Badgam district but made a hasty retreat in the face of quick retaliation by CRPF personnel. There was no report of casualty.
National Conference president and Chief Ministerial Candidate Omar Abdullah, a number of state ministers are among the 263 candidates whose fate was sealed in Tuesday's polling.
The voting was markedly lower in Srinagar in the wake of Hurriyat's call for boycott and a general strike
POLL
HIGHLIGHTS
Voter
turnout = 0
• Not a single vote was cast by 1300 hrs IST in Chiva assembly segment
of Soibug village in Budgam district. This segment is the influence
area of Hizbul chief, Sayed Salahuddin.
• No vote cast in Anchar, Malik Sahib Soura and Nigeen-B polling booths
in Srinagar by 1500 hrs IST.
• The Gogji Bagh polling booth next to the place of encounter recorded
zero polling till 1200 hrs IST.
• Three booths in close vicinity to the site of Gogji Bagh gunbattle
in Srinagar register a total of eleven votes by noon.
Intimidation of voters
• Two civilians allegedly beaten up by State Task Force of Police at Lachmanpora,
Batamaloo, in the Civil Lines for "not having voted
so far".
• Reports of protest came from Gani Stadium in downtown Rajouri Kadal
after people alleged that security forces were using force to make them
vote.
Voter apathy was evident in Srinagar where some polling stations reportedly did not record a single vote. Voters were coming in a trickle in Srinagar while there were reports of enthusiastic voting in several booths in Budgam and Jammu districts. Voter turnout was markedly higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
The three booths in close vicinity to the site of Gogji Bagh gunbattle in Srinagar registered a total of eleven votes by noon, of which 10 were cast by women. The Gogji Bagh polling booth next to the place of encounter, which was shifted to nearby Amar Singh College, recorded zero polling till 1200 hrs IST.
Elections were held in 28 assembly constituencies spread over the districts of Srinagar (10), Budgam (5) and Jammu (13).
There are 5,86,317 voters in Srinagar district and 2,88,309 in Budgam district. Polling was held at 2100 booths, of which 600 had been declared “sensitive” and about 100 booths as “super-sensitive”.
Poll Stats, results & database search from 1967 to 1996
Polling began on a dull note at seven in the morning amidst unprecedented security and the shadow of Monday's stepped-up violence, a night-long battle with holed-up militants in a Gogji Bagh residence and a strike call by the separatist organizations.
The polling booths, spread across the length and breadth of the city, had been sanitised on Monday and a large posse of police and paramilitary personnel had descended on these booths since the early hours of Tuesday.
Free ride to polling booth
Despite Election Commission guidelines on free and fair elections in the state, some of the candidates and party workers were ferrying voters in their private vehicles to the polling booth.
In Ganderbal constituency, from where NC president Omar Abdullah has been contesting, an NC leader Javeed Ahmad Shah was picking up people from Halmula area when people pelted stones at his vehicle.
In Idgah, NC candidate Mubarak Gul too was moving people in his vehicle to polling booths.
Son of another NC candidate Ali Mohammad Sagar, who is contesting from Khandyar constituency, was seen bringing relatives and other voters in a vehicle to the booths for polling.
Earlier in the day, a small anti-poll demonstration taken out by the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front from the volatile Maisuma colony in the heart of the city was dispersed by the police. There were no reports of casualties.
Srinagar, September 24: An estimated 42 per cent of the nearly 20 lakh voters exercised franchise in the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The Election Commission has said that militant attacks in the run up to the poll acted as a dampner on the turnout.
