Violence plan foiled in Poonch, 500 lathis, 2 vehicles seized; FIR lodged
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 21: Ahead of the counting for 280 seats of the District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow, Poonch police foiled a major plot by many candidates and their supporters to trigger large scale violence at the counting centre by seizing over 500 lathis, bats, hockeys and other such items from the vehicles which were heading from Mendhar, Mankote and Surankote to Poonch. Police have seized seven vehicles so far, arrested two persons, and lodged FIR against all the accused at Poonch police station.
Fate of around 2178 candidates including many bigwigs like former Ministers, MP, legislators, kin of prominent politicians and senior leaders of many political parties will be decided when counting for all 280 territorial constituencies-140 each in Jammu and Kashmir divisions-will be taken up at the respective district headquarters for the first-ever District Development Council (DDC) elections at 9 am tomorrow.
Results will be available at http://ceojk.nic.in.
Police sources told the Excelsior that Poonch Police subjected to checking all vehicles heading towards Poonch from Surankote, Mendhar and Mankote in anticipation of violence during the counting as large scale violent incidents were reported during polling in Mendhar and Mankote where re-poll had to be ordered in some booths.
District Magistrate Poonch Rahul Yadav has already imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 RPC in Poonch town during counting at the district headquarters tomorrow for all 14 seats.
The hockeys, bats, lathis etc were seized from the vehicles of the supporters of NC candidate Zeeshan Rana of Mendhar son of former NC MLA Javed Rana, Shahnawaz Choudhary, Congress rebel and Independent candidate from Surankote, Choudhary Ashraf (Independent), Mir Mohammad (BJP) and Choudhary Imran Zaffar (Congress).
“Over 500 lathis, hockeys, bats etc have been recovered and seven vehicles of supporters of the candidates seized so far,” sources said, adding a FIR has been registered and two persons arrested so far.
Security arrangements have been further tightened around the counting centre with deployment of more paramilitary and police personnel, they said.
It may be mentioned here that violence had erupted during polling in Mendhar and Mankote DDC seats of Poonch district in which two candidates and around two dozen other persons were injured and re-poll was ordered in some of the polling stations. Re-poll in four booths of Mendhar passed off peacefully today.
Prohibitory orders have also been imposed around counting centres in Rajouri and Reasi districts.
Meanwhile, as ballot boxes have been used for the polling the counting process will take larger time as compared to the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the trends will start pouring in only in the afternoon while results are expected to come in the evening. However, counting on some seats which have more votes could extend beyond the evening.
Among 140 seats in each district, every district has 14 seats for the DDCs and their counting will be taken up at the concerned district headquarters for which the Government buildings have already been identified and the District Magistrates have made all requisite arrangements.
Official sources told the Excelsior that a total of 57 lakh electorates were eligible to cast their votes for the District Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir but, of them, 51.42 percent have exercised their right to franchise i.e. around 23.7 lakh votes will have to be counted. Polling percentage was around 70 percent in Jammu division and nealry 33 percent in Kashmir.
“Results of the DDC seats in Kashmir and some districts of Jammu like Samba where constituencies are based on lesser votes are expected to be declared early,” sources said.
State Election Commissioner (SEC) K K Sharma told a press conference here on the eve of results that counting for all 280 DDC seats across the Union Territory will start at 9 am.
“There was 51.42 percent polling in all eight phases of the elections,” Sharma said, adding there were 2178 candidates in fray in the polls whose fate will be decided tomorrow during the counting.
He said the counting will be held as per the procedure of the Election Commission and tables will be given randomly to the staff for counting. He added that the staff has been asked to report for duties early at the counting centres.
In Jammu district, counting of votes will be held at the Government Polytechnic College Jammu for all 14 seats from 9 am. Postal ballots will be taken up for counting first followed by other ballot papers.
Among prominent candidates whose fate will be decided tomorrow include Taj Mohi-ud-Din and Shabir Khan, both former Minister and Tarlok Singh Bajwa, former Member Parliament (all from Congress), Jagjivan Lal and Abdul Gani Malik, both former Ministers of National Conference, Sham Choudhary and Shakti Parihar, former Ministers, Prof Gharu Bhagat, Bharat Bushan, former MLAs, Sarf Singh, ex KAS officer, Iqbal Malik, retired Deputy Commissioner and many others from the BJP, Aijaz Khan, ex Minister, Mumtaz Khan, former MLA and ex Minister Choudhary Zulfkar’s wife, Zubaida Begum Choudhary, all from Apni Party, Kanta Andotra, former MLA of Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan, Shah Mohammad Tantray, former PDP MLA who contested the election as an Independent from Poonch, Dr Shehnaz Ganaie, former MLC who was also in the fray as Independent candidate in Poonch district, Charanjit Singh Jasrotia, former MLA and Independent candidate in Kathua and kin of many political leaders like Mirza Abdul Rashid, ex MP, Javed Rana, ex MLA and Aijaz Jan, former MLA, all National Conference among others. Brother and father of two IAS officers posted in the Union Territory are also in the race.
Meanwhile, the State Election Commissioner today chaired a high-level meeting to review arrangements for counting of votes tomorrow.
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