There is palpable excitement in Jammu and Ladakh over the forthcoming urban local body polls, while Kashmir stays anxious, even as the nomination process for the second phase of the elections in Jammu and Kashmir comes to an end. Hundreds of candidates have filed their nominations in Jammu alone for the second phase of these civic elections. But despite assurances of security and insurance cover to the tune of Rs 10 lakh, the Valley is wary of participating in this democratic process for fear of threats from terrorists.
A senior official told the media that 1,200 candidates have filed nominations for 384 municipal wards in 13 districts of the state so far. He said that over 2,700 candidates in total have joined the fray for the first two phases of these elections. The
official spokesperson said that over 1,500 candidates have filed nominations for 422 municipal wards for the first phase.
Giving further details, the officials said the second phase includes 166 wards in seven districts of Kashmir valley and 218 wards in Jammu. Elections will be held here on 10 October. In Jammu, hundreds of candidates were seen filing their nominations, after coming in a procession with their supporters. However, in south Kashmir, a senior official said that only four candidates had filed nominations for the six wards of Yaripora municipal committee in Kulgam district and five candidates had filed nominations for the 17 wards of Bijbehara municipal committee in Anantnag district.
Regarding Charar-e-Sharief, Beerwa and Magam in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, officials said that they did not have any data yet about any nominations filed. No nomination was received for the Frisal municipal committee in Kulgam district of south Kashmir.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary and in-charge of Kashmir affairs, Ram Madhav, during his latest visit to the state, asked the party candidates to be brave and file their nominations in Kashmir. Taking a swipe at the election boycott call given by the National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), he said that these two parties had filed proxy candidates in both Kashmir and Jammu.
Madhav’s assertion came after Junaid Mattu, NC spokesman and a close friend of Omar Abdullah, resigned and said that he would contest the election for the Srinagar Municipal Council. Both the Congress and BJP have accused the NC of fielding proxy candidates in Srinagar Municipal Council.
Apart from BJP and Congress, BJP’s ally Sajad Lone’s People’s Conference too is contesting the elections, while the rest of the parties, including CPM, have boycotted the polls.
Talking to the media, Ram Madhav said that the BJP was hopeful of winning a good number of seats in the municipal committees in all the three regions of the state, Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh.