J&K Civic Body Polls: Voting Underway for the Fourth Phase
The four-phase election will end on 16 October.
Voting for the third phase of civic body polls in Jammu and Kashmir concluded on Saturday, 13 October with a mere 3.4% voter turnout in the Kashmir valley.
Voting took place for 96 wards in the state.
While a high turnout of over 80 percent was recorded in Jammu's Samba district, the frontier town of Uri in Baramulla district bucked the trend by recording a 75.34 percent turnout.
- The municipal elections are being held in four phases, covering 79 municipal bodies with an electorate of about 17 lakh
- Polling will take place in four phases: On 8 October, 10 October, 13 October and 16 October
- The counting of votes will be held on 20 October
Voter Turnout Till 12 Noon - 7.9 Percent in Ganderbal, 2.3 Percent in Srinagar
The voter turnout in the fourth phase of the ongoing Urban Local Body Elections in Jammu and Kashmir stands at 7.9 percent in Ganderbal and 2.3 Percent in Srinagar till 12 noon.
Voter Turnout Till 10 am - 6.4 Percent in Ganderbal and 1.6 Percent in Srinagar
Voter turnout recorded till 10 am is 6.4 percent in Ganderbal and 1.6 percent in Srinagar in the fourth phase of urban local body elections.
4-Phased Local Body Elections in J&K to Culminate Today
Parts of Srinagar and Ganderbal will go to polls on Tuesday, 16 October in the fourth and last phase of urban local body elections, amid heightened security and a call for shutdown in poll-bound areas by the Joint Resistance Leadership.
The counting of votes will take place on October 20 at respective district headquarters, officials said on Monday.
(Greater Kashmir)
Visuals from Srinagar
Internet Services Suspended in the State Ahead of Phase IV
High-speed mobile internet services were suspended in south and central Kashmir including Srinagar due to the fourth phase of urban local body polls.
Voting Underway for Fourth and Final Phase
The voting has started in the fourth and the final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir urban local body elections.
Samba Records 81.4% Voter Turnout
Just 3.49 percent of the electorate voted in the third-phase of the urban local body polls in militancy-hit Kashmir valley. While Samba witnessed a voter turnout of whopping 81.4%, Srinagar’s turnout was merely 1.8%.
- Baramulla-75.3%
- Samba-81.4%
- Anantnag-3.2%
- Srinagar-1.8%
Safakadal, Chanapora Wards Record Less Than 10 Votes Each
Safakadal, a ward in the city's old town, and Chanapora, in the Civil Lines, polled less than 10 votes each in the third phase of the urban local body elections in which 20 municipal wards went to polls Saturday.
Chanapora, which has an electorate of 10,000, had polled only two votes till 1 pm with an addition of only six more votes to end with a tally of eight by the close of polling.
The posh Rajbagh area of the city saw only 19 voters turning up at the polling stations to register their choice of candidate while as nearby Ikhrajpora polled a much higher tally of 149 votes.
The historic Lal Chowk, which has an electoral strength 5,827, saw only 71 voters exercise their franchise during the day, reported PTI.
Samba Leads With Highest Voter Turnout, Srinagar Lags Behind
In the third phase of the local body polls in Jammu and Kashmir, voter turnout recorded till 2 pm on Saturday, 13 October is: Baramulla -72.7 percent, Samba -73.9 percent, Anantnag - 2.7 percent and Srinagar- 1.5 percent.
Brisk Polling Going on in J&K's Samba, 60 Percent Voted Till 12 pm
Like first two phases, the enthusiastic voters have thronged polling stations across Samba district of Jammu region in the third phase of the urban local bodies (ULB) elections to seal the fate of 242 candidates in 56 municipal wards.
The voting is underway smoothly in all the four municipal committees of Samba, Ramgarh, Vijaypur and Bari-Brahmana and so far 59.39 percent of 31,878 electorate have exercised their franchise in the 57 polling stations set up across the district till 12 am, district election officer, Samba, Sushma Chauhan told PTI.
Independent Candidate Junaid Azim Mattu Casts Vote in Srinagar
Independent Candidate and former National Conference leader Junaid Azim Mattu who resigned from NC disagreeing over decision to boycott local body polls, casted his vote in Srinagar's Barzulla.
Voting Begins for Phase III of Civic Body Polls
Voting is currently underway for the third phase of urban local body polls in 96 wards of Jammu and Kashmir.
Voter Turnout During Phase II of Local Polls
Ramban district is leading the voter turnout chart with 62.9 percent out of a 5,533-strong electorate exercising their franchise, followed by Reasi (60.8 percent of 10,204 voters), Kathua (59.4 percent of 54,622 voters), Doda (57.8 percent of 13,396 voters), Kishtwar (55.9 percent of 8,830 voters) and Udhampur (59.4 percent of 35,519 voters), the officials said, listing voter turnout till 12 pm.
Areas like Anantnag (1%), Baramulla (5.2%), Kupwara (3.4%) and Srinagar (1.8%) saw low voter turnout due to the call for boycotting elections separatist groups, reported The Indian Express.
The polling will seal the fate of 881 candidates for 214 wards, while four candidates have been elected unopposed in this phase in Jammu region.
Long queues were witnessed outside the polling stations across all the districts since this morning to select their local representatives, reported PTI.
Voting Ends With 8.3% Voter Turnout
Just 8.3 percent of the electorate voted in the first-phase of the urban local body polls in militancy-wracked Kashmir Valley, while Kargil recorded the highest turnout of 78 per cent, an official said Monday.
Polling in 83 wards of the valley began at 7 am and ended at 4 pm amidst tight security.
Poll Boycott Fails to Dampen Voters' Spirit in Jammu, Ladakh
The boycott of urban local body polls by several political parties, including the PDP and the NC, failed to dampen the spirit of voters in the Jammu and the Ladakh regions as they came out in large numbers to vote in the first phase of elections on Monday.
Long queues of enthusiastic voters were seen outside the polling stations in Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri districts of the Jammu region and Leh and Kargil in Ladakh – the areas of the state which are almost militancy-free and have always ignored boycott calls given by separatists.
Normal Life Affected in Valley Due to Strike
Normal life has been hit in the Kashmir Valley due to a strike called by the separatists against the holding of the local bodies’ polls, the first phase of which began on Monday morning across the state.
Shops, business establishments, private offices and fuel stations remained closed in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, officials told PTI.
They added that public transport was off the roads, while a few private cars, taxis and autorickshaws were seen plying in some areas of the city.
Similar reports of shutdown were received from the other district headquarters of the Valley, the officials said.
6 Percent Voter Turnout Till 1 pm
Over six percent of the electorate turned out to cast their votes on Monday in the 83 wards of urban local bodies in Kashmir during the first six hours of polling, an official told PTI.
"Over 5,400 voters have exercised their franchise till 1:00 pm at the 150 polling stations set up in the 83 wards across the Kashmir Valley where polling is going on today," the official said.
Around 85,000 voters including 40,800 women are eligible to vote in the Valley.
(Source: PTI)
Voter Turnout Till 11 am in 11 Districts
According to ANI:
- Anantnag: 5 percent
- Budgam: 3 percent
- Bandipora: 2 percent
- Baramulla: 3 percent
- Jammu: 34 percent
- Kargil: 33 percent
- Kupwara: 18 percent
- Leh: 26 percent
- Poonch: 47 percent
- Rajouri: 55 percent
- Srinagar: 3.50 percent
Less Than Two Percent Voter Turnout in First Two Hours
Less than two percent of the electorate turned out to cast their votes on Monday in 83 wards of urban local bodies in Kashmir in the first two hours of polling for the first of the four-phased elections in the valley amidst stringent security arrangements, reported PTI.
According to the news agency, polling is picking up in north Kashmir as more than 10 percent of 4,700 voters cast their votes in the first two hours for Kupwara Municipal Committee, followed by 5.5 percent in Handwara town.
The poll percentage in Bandipora was an abysmal one percent while Baramulla recorded around 0.8 per cent turnout.
In Anantnag, only 43 of the 1,639 votes have been cast so far, the official told PTI, adding that in Budgam only 12 voters turned up in the first two hours of polling.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh, Former Deputy CM Cast Vote
Union Minister Jitendra Singh and former Deputy CM Kavinder Gupta cast their votes in Jammu during the first phase of local body elections.
Voting for Municipal Body Elections Underway at a Polling Booth in Bandipora
Militants Issued Threats to Voters and Candidates
Militants have issued threats to both candidates and voters, separatist leaders have called for a protest shutdown in the Kashmir Valley on Monday.
Tension was palpable in the region on Sunday as the authorities beefed up security across Jammu and Kashmir.
Four hundred additional companies of paramilitary forces have arrived here to augment the existing strength of security forces.
Scores of motorbikes were seized by the police at various check posts in the city on Saturday and on Sunday on account of lack of documents or in cases where the bikers had violated traffic rules.
All vehicles entering the city were being thoroughly checked.
(Source: IANS)
In Pictures: People Queue Outside a Polling Booth in Rajouri
NCP and PDP Boycotting the Polls
The Valley’s two major parties, the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are boycotting the elections.
So have the CPI-M, the Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) headed by Hakim Yaseen and the Democratic Party Nationalist (DPN) headed by Ghulam Hassan Mir.
Separatist Leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Placed Under House Arrest
Ahead of the municipal polls in the Kashmir Valley, authorities placed senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest on Sunday, 7 October.
Police said the decision was taken as a preventive measure to maintain law and order.
Commenting on his arrest ahead of the municipal polls scheduled on Monday, Mirwaiz Umer said on his Twitter page:
Polling will take place in four phases: On 8 October, 10 October, 13 October and 16 October.
In Pictures: Voting for Urban Local Bodies in Jammu District
Mobile Internet Services Suspended in south Kashmir
Mobile Internet services have been suspended in south Kashmir in the view of the first phase of urban local bodies elections, reported ANI.
Mobile Internet speed has been reduced to 2G in other parts of the Kashmir Valley.
Voting Begins in 422 Wards
Voting begins for 422 of the 1,145 wards in the first of the four phases of urban local bodies elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
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