Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 27: A record 30 Observers would for the first time supervise Parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir to ensure that the polling is held in free and fair manner even in the far flung and mountainous areas of Kishtwar, Ladakh, Bandipora and Poonch etc. The Observers for Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seats, which would go to polls in first two phases of J&K on April 10 and 17 respectively, have taken charge while the Observers for rest of the four constituencies would take charge when the election process there is set in motion.
All the Observers deployed or being deployed in the State were IAS and IPS officers of different States.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Jammu and Kashmir, Umang Narula told the Excelsior that 15 General Observers, all IAS officers from different parts of the country (excepting Jammu and Kashmir) were being deployed for six Parliamentary constituencies of the State. The highest number of four General Observers have been deployed in high profile Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha seat, where Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad is pitted on Congress mandate against BJP candidate Dr Jitendra Singh among others.
“Three General Observers have been deployed in Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat. Two Observers each would be deployed in rest of the four Lok Sabha seats-Anantnag-Pulwama, Srinagar-Budgam, Baramulla-Kupwara and Ladakh when the election process in these constituencies is set in motion,” Mr Narula said.
In another first, the Election Commission has deployed six Police Observers in Jammu and Kashmir-one for each Lok Sabha seat. The Police Observers would be IPS officers and they would monitor deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and police in their constituencies especially in sensitive and remote areas.
The Police Observers for Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituencies have also taken the charge while for remaining four segments, they would be deployed in the next few days.
“Apart from General and Police Observers, the Elections Commission has deployed six Expenditure Observers-one each for Lok Sabha seat and three Awareness Observers-one each for two Parliamentary constituencies in the State,” the CEO J&K said, adding the Awareness Observers would aware the voters about their right to vote while the Expenditure Observers would monitor expenditure of the candidates, the limit for which has been fixed at Rs 70 lakh.
Official sources said that in a bid to ensure free and fair elections and ensure that there was no bogus voting or any kind of rigging in inaccessible mountainous areas, the Elections Commission has decided to deploy CAPFs in all such polling stations.
“All polling stations located in remote and inaccessible areas across the State have been declared as hyper sensitive and sensitive facilitating deployment of CAPFs there,” sources said, adding the measure was aimed at ensuring free, fair and transparent elections in the State.
The Election Commission has already identified all vulnerable polling stations located in remote and mountainous areas and decided to deploy CAPFs there to ensure that there was no possibility of any bogus voting or any other kind of irregularities, sources said.
Meanwhile, a number of CAPFs (number withheld due to security reasons) have been deployed on pre-election duty in Jammu-Poonch and Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituencies while more forces were being sent to four remaining Lok Sabha seats for similar purpose. These companies would sanitise the polling stations and take positions in vulnerable areas, which faced threat of the terror strikes.
Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat would go to polls on April 10, Udhampur-Doda on April 17, Anantnag-Pulwama on April 24, Srinagar-Budgam on April 30 and Baramulla-Kupwara and Ladakh on May 7.
Authorities have decided to airlift the polling staff, machinery and security personnel to some places in Kishtwar, Poonch, Ladakh and Bandipora. All these polling stations have been identified.
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