Srinagar: Amid a low participation by candidates for the first phase of the urban local bodies elections in south Kashmir, only four of the 49 wards will go to the polls as others either have no candidates or have uncontested winners.
The details provided by election officials reveal that 38 candidates — of whom 30 have won uncontested — are fighting for the 49 municipal wards in south Kashmir during the first phase on next Monday.
In the first phase in south Kashmir, votes will be cast in only one municipal committee — Kokernag — out of the five where the polls are scheduled.
The Kokernag municipal committee has 13 wards out of which candidates for eight wards have been elected unopposed and voting will be held in only four wards.
In other four municipal committees in south Kashmir, there will be no voting as the candidates have either won unopposed or there are no candidates for at least 15 wards.
The poor response to the polls in south Kashmir is a reflection of the situation on the ground in its four districts, which have become a contesting ground of the region’s new-age insurgency.
The south Kashmir region, which is the epicentre of new-age militants, comprises four districts: Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian. It has 20 municipal committees and 265 wards.
The holding of civic elections and the panchayat elections, which are being held in multiple phases through October and November, will be a major security challenge in south Kashmir as militants are intent on disrupting the polls and have threatened to harm the candidates.
In Kulgam district’s two municipal committees — Kulgam and Devsar — which are going to polls in the first phase, no voting will take place. There will also be no voting in Achabal and Qazigund municipal committees as nine candidates have been declared winners while six wards have no candidates.
The eight candidates contesting for Devsar’s eight municipal wards, all of whom are from the BJP, have been declared winners unopposed, while five candidates contesting for Kulgam’s 13 wards have been declared uncontested winners.
“There will be no voting in Kulgam as candidates for 13 wards have been declared uncontested winners and eight wards have no candidates,” Kulgam District Election Officer Shamim Ahmad told The Tribune.
The official said there would be no voting in Kulgam during the second phase also, when its two remaining municipal committees were scheduled to go to the polls. The Frisal municipal committee in Kulgam has no candidates while the three candidates contesting for Yaripora’s six wards have been declared winners. (Tribune)
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