ULB polling: voters defies boycott call in Baramulla, Samba
TNN Bureau. Updated: 10/13/2018 4:40:16 PM
Politics
Srinagar, Oct 13: Voters defied separatist boycott call in Baramulla in north Kashmir and Samba in Jammu, where over 72 per cent voters have exercised their democratic right while low voter turnout was recorded in summer capital, Srinagar and Anantnag.
Polling was by and large peaceful as unprecedented security arrangements have been made to foil any attempt by militants to disrupt the polling following strike called by separatists in areas where polling was held on Saturday.
Polling started in all polling stations at 0600 hrs and ended at 1600 hrs.
Ignoring boycott call, people in large numbers cast their votes since early this morning in border town of Uri, in north Kashmir district of Baramulla where over 72.7 per cent votes were polled till 1400 hrs. Long queue could still be seen outside the polling stations. Uri, a border town, always witness high voter turnout in Assembly and Parliament elections in the past.
However, elsewhere in the valley, voters turnout remained low.
An official spokesman told UNI that in Srinagar only 1.5 per cent votes were polled during the first six hours. It was 2.7 per cent in Anantnag in south Kashmir.
Former National Conference (NC) spokesperson, Junaid Azim Mattoo, who resigned from the party and contested as an independent candidate cast his vote in the uptown. Rejecting allegation that he was puppet of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Junaid said he was contesting as an independent candidate. The National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had entered into an alliance with the BJP and both the parties are now misleading people, he said.
Spokesman said it was 73.9 per cent polling in Samba in Jammu region till 1400 hrs.
The areas going to polls in picking up from para three of DR 4 “ ELECTION JK POLLING”.