No contest in 3 South Kashmir distts
Over 2100 to fight it out in Jammu
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 1: With nominations for all four phases of Municipal elections ending today, startling figures have come to the fore from Kashmir Valley, where 215 Wards out of a total of 624 have gone uncontested while 177 Wards didn’t find a single candidate.
The figures of Jammu region were, however, in complete contrast to Kashmir, where only 13 Wards out of a total of 534 remained uncontested while there was not even a single Ward, where nominations weren’t filed.
Complete official data of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), which is in possession of the Excelsior revealed that out of a total of 624 Wards in Kashmir, 215 have been won by the candidates uncontested, which means only one nomination each was filed for one Ward while 177 Wards went uncontested, finding not even a single candidate to contest.
Election will be held on 232 Wards only in Kashmir for which 715 candidates, an estimated three candidates per Ward, were in fray. A total of 930 valid nominations have been filed in Kashmir, which included the candidates who have won uncontested.
Significantly, nearly one lakh voters won’t be exercising their right to franchise in the absence of any candidate in their Wards while another one lakh electorates won’t vote as their Wards were won by the candidates without any contest due to just single candidate being in the fray.
In Jammu region, however, not even a single Ward out of a total of 534 has gone without a candidate. Only 13 candidates went uncontested including, four each in Rajouri and Poonch district, three in Ramban and one each in Jammu and Kathua districts.
The Phase-I of Municipal elections scheduled to be held on October 8 has total number of 175 Wards in Kashmir and, out of them, 69 Wards have been won uncontested while 23 remained vacant. A total of 273 candidates are in fray.
In Phase-II of the elections scheduled for October 10, there were total of 166 Wards in the Valley. Of them, 60 went uncontested and another 60 remained vacant.
Phase-III of Municipal elections with 151 Wards in Kashmir will go to polls on October 13. In this phase, 49 candidates have won uncontested while 55 Wards remained vacant.
Phase-IV of the polls scheduled for October 16 has 132 Wards in Kashmir. While 37 candidates have won without any contest, 39 Wards remained uncontested.
However, there was a silver lining in the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, where not even a single Ward remained without a candidate though seven Wards were won by the candidates without election in the absence of any opponent. A total of 305 candidates were trying their luck in the SMC.
In Leh and Kargil Municipal Committees of Ladakh region, there will be contests on all 26 Wards-13 each in the two Committees. While Kargil Municipality has 37 candidates, Leh has 29.
Significantly, there will be no election in three South Kashmir districts of Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian, where not even a single contestant is in the fray. While some of the Wards have been won by the candidates uncontested, majority of the Wards remained vacant.
Out of 17 Wards Shopian Municipal Committee, 13 have been won uncontested while four didn’t find any candidate.
In Pulwama district of South Kashmir, Tral Municipal Committee with 13 Wards too won’t see any election. While four Wards went uncontested, there were no candidates in nine others. Similar was the case in Awantipora, where out of 13 Wards, two were won by the candidates uncontested and 11 remained vacant.
Of 17 Wards in Pampore Municipal Committee of Pulwama district, five went uncontested and 12 remained vacant while all 13 Wards in Khrew Municipal Committee remained vacant. The 13-Wards Pulwama Municipal Committee saw three candidates winning unopposed while 10 didn’t find any candidate.
Kulgam Municipal Committee with 13 Wards couldn’t find any candidate for eight Wards while five Wards went uncontested. All eight Wards of Devsar Municipal Committee were won unopposed by the candidates. All 13 Wards of Frisal Municipal Committee in Kulgam district didn’t find a lone candidate for elections while out of six Wards of Yaripora Municipal Committee, three went uncontested and three remained vacant.
In South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, Achabal Municipal Committee will not see any election as out of eight Wards, five have been won by the candidates uncontested while three others didn’t find any candidate. All seven Wards of Qazigund Municipal Committee will too have no poll. While four Wards went uncontested, three remained vacant for want of candidates. Similarly, 17-Wards Bijbehara Municipal Committee too will not see any election, where five candidates got elected without any fight while 12 Wards have not even a single nominee.
In 13-Wards Kokernag Municipal Committee of the same district, eight have gone uncontested while one remained vacant. Election will be held for four Wards for which eight candidates are in fray. In 25-Wards Anantnag Municipal Council, there will be no contest on 13 Wards with nine candidates winning unopposed while for Wards have no candidates. Election will be held for 12 Wards for which 38 candidates are in the race.
Again, there will be no election in Pahalgam Municipal Committee of Anantnag district with 13 Wards. While eight Wards have gone uncontested, five couldn’t find any candidate. Same is the situation at Ashmuqam Committee of 13 Wards with eight of them being won by the candidates unopposed and four staying vacant. Worst is the position at Seer Hamdan Committee of 13 Wards, where no candidate filed papers for 11 Wards while two Wards went uncontested. Of 13 Wards of Mattan Municipal Committee, five have been won by the candidates unopposed while 16 candidates are in fray for eight Wards. In Dooru Verinag Committee of Anantnag with 17 Wards, four have gone uncontested while 26 candidates would contest rest of the Wards.
Contrary to this 75 Wards Jammu Municipal Corporation has whopping 447 candidates while seven Municipal Committees in Jammu district have 294 candidates. Rajouri district with five Municipal Committees has 178 candidates while Poonch district with two Urban Local Bodies has 85 candidates.
Kathua district with one Municipal Council and five Committees has 368 candidates while 192 candidates were in fray for one Council and two Committees in Udhampur district. There were 53 candidates in the race for lone Municipal Committee in Kishtwar while Doda district with three Municipal Committees has 115 candidates. Sixty-one candidates were in fray for three Municipal Committees of Ramban and 96 for two Municipal Committees of Reasi district. For four Municipal Committees of Samba district, 247 nomination papers have been received.
The election scenario was comparatively better in Central and North Kashmir as compared to South Kashmir excepting Budgam district.
Only two Wards have gone uncontested in 13-member Kupwara Municipal Committee while 29 candidates will be vying for rest of the 11 Wards. In Handwara Municipal Committee, which too has 13 Wards, six went uncontested while 18 candidates were in frat for seven Wards. Of 13-member Langate Municipal Committee, nine Wards have gone uncontested and two remained vacant while there were four candidates in race for two Wards.
Only one Ward has gone uncontested in 17-member Bandipora Municipal Committee while 42 candidates were in race for 16 Wards. Sumbal Municipal Committee of Bandipora district with 13 Wards will see contest for 12 Wards for which 34 candidates have joined fray while only one Ward was won unopposed. Hajin Committee of the same district has 13 Wards and eight of them have been won by the candidates uncontested while two others remained vacant. Eleven candidates are in fray for rest five Wards.
In Baramulla district, Baramulla Municipal Committee with 21 Wards will see 31 candidates battling for 15 Wards as six Wards have been won uncontested. However, Kunzar Municipal Committee of Baramulla district will not have any election as out of seven Wards, five have been won uncontested and two remained vacant. Almost similar was the situation in Watergam Municipal Committee where eight Wards have gone uncontested and four didn’t find any candidates. Two candidates were in fray for one Ward. Sopore Municipal Corporation of Baramulla district with 21 Wards will not see any election. While eight Wards have been won uncontested, 13 remained vacant. In quite contrast Uri Municipal Committee of the same district will see election on all 13 Wards for which 32 candidates were in the race. Pattan Municipal Committee will have election only on four Wards for which eight candidates were contesting while nine Wards have been won uncontested.
In Budgam district, nine Wards of Budgam Municipal Committee went uncontested and three remained vacant while election will be held in one Ward, where two candidates were in fray. All 13 Wards of Chadoora Municipal Committee of Budgam will not see any elections. While eight Wards remained uncontested, five others were vacant. All seven Wards of Khansahab Municipal Committee have been won uncontested.
There will also be no election for Charar-i-Sharief, Beerwah and Magam Municipal Committees of Budgam district, all of which have 13 Wards each. In Charar-i-Sharief 11 have gone uncontested and two remained vacant while in Beerwah, only one Ward went uncontested while 12 others were vacant, in Magam, seven Wards went uncontested and six remained vacant.
Ganderbal Municipal Committee with 17 Wards will see election on 14 Wards for which 43 candidates were in race while three Wards have been won uncontested.
End of Phase 4 nominations
Kashmir
Wards – 624
Valid Nominations – 930
Uncontested – 215
Contests – 232
Contesting candidates – 715 (3 per Ward)
Empty wards – 177
Jammu region
Wards – 534
Total Nominations – 2136
Uncontested – 13
Contests – 2123 (4 per Ward)
Emply wards – Zero
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