SRINAGAR: Srinagar-Ganderbal LS seat will vote Monday in the first J&K polls since the Aug 2019 abrogation of Article 370.
Srinagar will be the first of Valley’s three constituencies to go to the ballot. Two dozen candidates are in the fray. But the contest is largely three-cornered among National Conference’s (NC) Aga Ruhulla, PDP’s Waheed Para and Apni Party’s Ashraf Mir.
BJP has not fielded any candidate in Srinagar, nor in the other two Valley LS seats, Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri.
NC’s Farooq Abdullah had won the seat in 2019 but he opted out this time. The 2019 elections saw low participation, logging one of the lowest turnouts in comparison to the preceding three elections. The average in these LS polls barely crossed 40%, often due to threats from terrorists and calls of boycott from separatists.
This time, such fears are not palpable. Campaigning has been low-key but tension-free, uninterrupted by stone-pelting or other violence that stalked the 2019 polls. J&K police have provided adequate security to the candidates.
Apni Party’s Mir felt “a change in air”. “We expect large numbers to come out and vote and are thrilled to conduct road-shows,” said Mir.
NC’s Ruhulla moved around in open vehicles, waving to people in Srinagar and adjoining Ganderbal district. PDP’s Waheed highlighted youths “languishing in jail” and “children caught in drug addiction” among the main “the problems of Kashmir”.
The Srinagar seat has about 17.50 lakh voters, over 2 lakh of them first-timers in the age group of 18-20.
Srinagar will be the first of Valley’s three constituencies to go to the ballot. Two dozen candidates are in the fray. But the contest is largely three-cornered among National Conference’s (NC) Aga Ruhulla, PDP’s Waheed Para and Apni Party’s Ashraf Mir.
BJP has not fielded any candidate in Srinagar, nor in the other two Valley LS seats, Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri.
NC’s Farooq Abdullah had won the seat in 2019 but he opted out this time. The 2019 elections saw low participation, logging one of the lowest turnouts in comparison to the preceding three elections. The average in these LS polls barely crossed 40%, often due to threats from terrorists and calls of boycott from separatists.
This time, such fears are not palpable. Campaigning has been low-key but tension-free, uninterrupted by stone-pelting or other violence that stalked the 2019 polls. J&K police have provided adequate security to the candidates.
Apni Party’s Mir felt “a change in air”. “We expect large numbers to come out and vote and are thrilled to conduct road-shows,” said Mir.
NC’s Ruhulla moved around in open vehicles, waving to people in Srinagar and adjoining Ganderbal district. PDP’s Waheed highlighted youths “languishing in jail” and “children caught in drug addiction” among the main “the problems of Kashmir”.
The Srinagar seat has about 17.50 lakh voters, over 2 lakh of them first-timers in the age group of 18-20.