Urban Local Body Polls: Abysmal Voter Turnout in Kashmir Amid Shutdown and Boycott

Deployment of heavy security and a complete shutdown following a strike called by the separatists marked the beginning of the third phase of urban local body elections (ULBE) in Kashmir, which began on a dull note at 6 am on Saturday. While the voter turnout was abysmal in the Valley, Jammu saw an overwhelming polling in the district of Samba.

In Jammu division, four blocks of the Samba district – Samba, Vijaypur, Ramgarh and Bari-Brahmana – had gone to polls.

In Kashmir, four districts – which are considered to be hotbeds of militancy, and are under the ambit of separatists – had gone to polls. These are Downtown (Srinagar), Anantnag, Baramulla and Pulwama.

The third phase of ULB saw a total voter turnout of 3.5 per cent in Kashmir and 81.4 per cent in Jammu.  In North Kashmir, Baramulla saw the highest polling with 75.3 per cent voter turnout, as per an update at 4pm. Downtown in Srinagar, however, saw the lowest voter turnout of 1.8 per cent, followed by Anantnag, popularly known as Islamabad in Kashmir, with 3.2 per cent.

Following a boycott of the elections by a large section of the Valley, an Independent and a BJP candidate from Tral and Awantipo towns of Pulwama won the election unopposed.

Pulwama of South Kashmir – known as a stronghold of the militants – witnessed a gun fight between militants and government forces in the wee hours, before the polling began. The gunfight broke at Babagund area of Pulwama district. As per the reports, two militants affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen were killed. 

One of the militants, identified as Shabir Ahmad Dar alias Maali from Samboora Pulwama, was killed on the spot, while another militant identified as Showkat Ahmad from Muran, Pulwama, was rushed to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital, where he later succumbed to injuries. However, one of the militants, Zahoor Ahmad Thoker, former trooper of Territorial Army, managed to escape.

Sparse incidents of stone-pelting were reported from the polling booth of Nawkadal of Downtown. One of the officials stationed at the Nawkadal polling station told Newsclick, "People gathered outside the polling booth and raised slogan like ‘Boycott, Boycott, Election Boycott’. They also pelted stones aimed at the polling booth."

Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed in Handwara town in Kupwara following the killing of scholar turned militant Manan Bashir Wani and his associate who were killed in a gunfight on Thursday. Notably, a day before the third phase of ULB polls, a police man was killed on Friday night after a volley of bullets were fired at him by unknown gunmen in Warpora, Sopore.

As per the officials, unknown gunmen barged into the house of SPO Javaid Ahmad Lone at around 10.45 pm and fired at him. He was posted at District Police Lines (DPL), Sopore.