Jammu and Kashmir civic elections: Trend of low voter turnout continues in final phase as Valley sees 4.2% polling

Srinagar: Continuing the trend of low voter turnout, just 4.2 percent electorate on Tuesday turned up in the final phase of urban local bodies' elections in militancy-wracked Kashmir, drawing curtains on the four-phased polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The counting for the four-phased polls which began on 8 October will be done on 20 October, officials said. Polling began at 6 am on Tuesday morning amid stringent security arrangements at 308 polling stations in the twin districts of Srinagar and Ganderbal and ended at 4 pm. [caption id=“attachment_5390101” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Security personnel stand guard at a polling station during the fourth phase of elections for urban local bodies in Srinagar, on Tuesday. PTI[/caption] Out of 2.42 lakh voters in 24 wards of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, only 9,678 (four percent) turned up at heavily-fortified polling stations, officials said. In Ganderbal, 10.8 percent of 8,908 voters exercised their franchise. Eight municipal bodies across six districts — all in the Valley — were scheduled to go to polls in the final phase of the elections. However, only two bodies witnessed voting as the six were either won unopposed or no nominations were submitted. In the fourth phase, 151 candidates were in the fray for 36 wards of the two urban local bodies, the officials said. For 24 wards of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) with a total electorate of 2,41,043, 113 candidates were in the fray and 295 polling stations were established for the purpose, the officials said. Repolling was also held at polling station number nine — Bachidarwaza of Makhdoom Sahab (ward number 41) — where five candidates were in the fray with a total electorate of 1,260. Only 262 votes were cast on Tuesday. The officials said massive security arrangements were put in place for the smooth conduct of the polls. The polls were announced in September but two major political parties — the National Conference (NC) and the PDP — boycotted the elections accusing the Centre of not taking a firm stand on the protection of Article 35A of the Constitution which is facing a legal challenge in the Supreme Court. Militants had issued threats to anyone participating in these polls, resulting in absence of any campaigning by the candidates. They had also killed two National Conference workers. The voter turnout in the first three phases of the civic polls in the valley has been low. While 8.3 percent of the electorate turned up to vote in the 83 wards in the first phase on 8 October, the poll percentage fell to an abysmal 3.4 percent in the second phase held on 10 October . The third phase of polling for civic bodies in Kashmir on 13 October also witnessed a low turnout of just 3.49 percent.