Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Dec 24: Kashmiri Pandits for the second time have failed to send their representative in State Assembly since 2008 elections. With low polling in all eight Assembly segments of Srinagar district in Central Kashmir, the Kashmiri Pandits leading an exiled life for last over 25 years and demanding political empowerment for them could have at their own send one community representative in State Assembly from Habbakadal Assembly segment this time which has a total number 16,271 migrant voters.
The community failed to send its representative in two consecutive terms i.e in 2008 Assembly elections and this time from Habbakadal Constituency to State Assembly due to poor response by the migrants to voting.
The Habbakadal seat was represented in 1996 and 2002 Assembly elections by KP candidates after veteran NC leader P L Handoo was elected from this seat in 1996 while his son-in-law Raman Matoo won the seat in 2002 Assembly elections as an independent candidate.
It may be recalled that in 2002 there were two KP candidates in Assembly. Besides, Matoo who was an independent candidate, Congress had nominated Khem Lata Wakhloo to the House.
Though BJP had made high stakes on Habbakadal seat this time and it was the only party which had fielded four KP candidates from four Assembly segments of the Valley but Party failed to win any seat due to poor response by migrants during voting.
Besides BJP, the Congress was second political party which had field two candidates from Valley this time who included Raman Matoo from Habbakadal and Khem Lata Wakhloo from Sonawar in Srinagar.
Two more KP candidates who were in the fray included Sanjay Saraf of Lok Janshakti Party from Habbakadal and Kulbushan Kaw of newly formed People’s Republican Party (PRP) from Wachi Constituency in Shopian district of South Kashmir.
According to political analysts going by the voting pattern in the Assembly Segment of Habbakadal, it could have been easily won by any KP candidate had 5000 migrants cast their vote in favour of a single community candidate among the three.
They said as the voting percentage was totally low in this Assembly Segment as the winning candidate Shamima Firdose of National Conference (NC) had secured 4,955 votes only while the Moti Kaul of BJP who was runner up had got 2596 votes. Had the migrants polled only 5000 votes in favour of a single KP candidate the seat could have been easily wrested by him from NC.
The votes secured by other parties in this Assembly segment included 992 by PDP, 937 by Congress and 830 by Lok Janshakti Party.
Besides 508, 261, 211, 158, 48 and 36 votes were secured by independents while 118 were in NOTA.
However the analysts feel that migrant votes could have hardly made any difference in other constituencies where from KP candidates were contesting as the community vote was far less than the winning margin of candidates. Khanyar Assembly Segment where from KP candidate Ashok Bhat was contesting on BJP ticket has only 1401 migrant votes while the winning candidate had secured 6505 votes and runner up 5338. Mr Bhat had got 550 votes while 968 migrants had filled up M Forms in this Assembly Segment.
Bijbehara is another Constituency in South Kashmir district of Anantnag which had a total number of 5056 migrant voters but the KP candidate P N Pandita of BJP had got only 1591 votes while 2392 migrants had filled up M Forms for casting the vote.
The Sonawar Assembly Segment of Srinagar where from KP candidate Khem Lata Wakhloo was contesting on Congress ticket has 1092 migrant votes.
However the winning candidate of PDP Mohammed Ashraf Mir got 14,283 votes while Khem Lata got 808 votes only. In this Assembly segment 372 M Forms were filled up by migrants.
In Rafiabad Assembly segment of North Kashmir district of Baramulla, the KP candidate Raj Kumar Nehru of BJP had got 634 votes while the winning candidate of PDP Yawar Ahmad Mir had got 17918 votes. The Constituency has 837 migrant votes only.
In Wachi Assembly Segment in South Kashmir district of Shopian where from Kulbushan Kaw who was contesting on the PRP ticket got 421 votes while the winning candidate Aijaz Ahmad Mir of PDP got 15,610 votes. The Wachi has a total number of 1149 migrant votes.
Except Moti Kaul all the KP candidates had forfeited their security deposits also.
However Kashmiri migrants term the cumbersome process of voting as main cause of low response to voting by them and they said that despite the repeated pleas and protests by the community, the Election Commission has failed to simplify the voting procedure for them.
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