SRINAGAR : Campaigning for the 15 Assembly constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir going to polls on November 25, ended this evening.
Enthusiasm witnessed among the voters during the election meetings and road shows organised by different political parties, is expected to increase the voter turnout, as there was no impact of any boycott call by separatists, barring in few pockets of Bandipora, sources said here.
The ruling National Conference (NC) has to defend seven seats, Congress six and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Independent one each in the state.
Star campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State Dr Jitender Singh, Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and president Mehbooba Mufti, addressed election rallies to woo voters in favour of their nominees, from among the 123 candidates. The authorities have set up 1787 polling stations in the length and breadth of these constituencies for 1,051,642 electorate, including 50,12,81 women voters. The highest 74.02 voter turnout was recorded in border constituency of Gurez, while the lowest 51.99 per cent was registered in Ganderbal seat, from where Mr Abdullah got elected in 2008.
However this time, the Chief Minister is seeking election from Sonawar in Srinagar and Beerwah at central Kashmir district of Badgam, going to the polls in third and fourth phases, respectively.
The least number of two candidates are seeking election from Leh constituency, while the highest 13 nominees are in the fray from three constituencies of Bhaderwah, Ganderbal and Bandipora. There was absolutely no impact of the separatist boycott call as despite chilly weather conditions, particularly in Gurez, Bandipora, Sonawari, Ganderbal and Kangan in Kashmir valley and Leh, Nobra, Kargil and Zanaskar, people in large number participated in election rallies. The rallies were more or less peaceful barring a minor clash between supporters of Congress and PDP supporters at the time of filing of nomination papers at Bandipora.
The BJP leaders, including Mr Modi, seeking votes to achieve Mission 44-plus, asked people to vote against the “dynastic and corrupt rule” in the state.
Bring BJP to power to make Jammu and Kashmir a developed state, which would be free of corruption and full of development and employment opportunities, Mr Modi said addressing an election rally at Kishtwar.
He declared that BJP will end this era of “corruption and loot” in Jammu and Kashmir and give people of the state the first ever clean and efficient government, which would have only one agenda of development and good governance. Mr Modi vowed to fulfil the dream of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee based on democracy, humanity and ‘Kashmiriyat’, that has made a special place in the hearts of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
However, BJP leaders had expressed different views of Article 370 at Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir.
While in Jammu, the party leaders said Article 370 was very much in the manifesto of BJP, in Kashmir it said this needs a national debate.
Some leaders went to the extent of saying that anything to the Article would be done after taking into confidence people of that state.
However, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said BJP will not make the Article a poll issue in Jammu and Kashmir. However, no senior BJP leader addressed election rallies in Kashmir.
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and other senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain addressed meetings in shia-dominated Kargil constituency.
Barring Gurez and Sonawari constituencies, BJP has fielded candidates in all 13 constituencies while NC, PDP and Congress have fielded candidates in all 15 constituencies. Hitting out at BJP for alleged multiple voices on Article 370, NC working president Omar Abdullah said the party (BJP) has never accepted the state flag of Jammu and Kashmir.
“BJP talks about winning the hearts of people of Jammu and Kashmir, but the fact remains that the party has never accepted our state flag, our special status, our identity and our political sentiments,” Mr Abdullah said, addressing election rallies.
“First accept our flag and our political sentiments and then talk about winning hearts and minds,” he told BJP and said there were multiple voices emerging from the party with different, ambiguous stands on Article 370.
There was no clarity from BJP about their policy on this very sensitive issue, he added.
“On one hand, certain BJP leaders say that they will not make Article 370 an issue and leave it to the will of people and on the other hand, the Home Minister says that Article 370 is a ‘National Issue’.
“This is a conscious effort at deliberate contradiction as BJP is trying to have two different stands on various sensitive political issues in two different regions of the state,” the NC working president said.
Holding Congress and PDP responsible for eroding Article 370 after the arrest of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1953, Mr Abdullah asked people to vote against these parties. He claimed that NC was the only party to defend the special status of the state at any cost.
However, the PDP leaders alleged that NC has secret understanding with BJP in the state. PDP Patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said the focus of the upcoming Assembly elections will be to safeguard the distinct identity of Jammu and Kashmir, rather than victory or defeat of a particular party.
Congress and NC have been on a self-destruction mode in the last six years and they apparently seem to be out of the context already after the crushing defeat in Parliamentary elections, said the Chief Minister.
PDP President Mehbooba Mufti alleged that NC and Congress have lost their relevance as a result of their six years of mis-governance.
She said people have made up their mind to punish them in the upcoming Assembly elections, adding that voting for NC and Congress is like opting for NOTA option. Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders, including Mr Azad and PCC chief Saifuddin Soz, addressed election meetings in favour of their candidates in the valley and Jammu region.
Congress accused BJP of spreading hatred in the state for political gains.
They accused both the Centre and state government for failing to provide relief to flood-affected families in the state. Leaders of other political parties also organised election rallies and road shows in favour of their candidates. (AGENCIES)
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