Top
Home » Nation

Assembly polls: Vote with your heart, tweets Omar Abdullah; first phase of voting underway in J-K, Jharkhand

Nation
DC Correspondent
25 Nov 2014 3:49 PM IST
Elections in both states will be held in five phases, votes will be counted on December 23
Assembly polls: Vote with your heart, tweets Omar Abdullah; first phase of voting underway in J-K, Jharkhand
x
The voting has been going on smoothly with people braving the cold and slowly coming out of their homes. (Photo: Twitter)
Ganderbal, Jammu and Kashmir: First phase of assembly elections began on Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir amid tight security in Ganderbal, Bandipore and Doda districts. Barring minor attempts to disrupt polling in Bandipore and in Sonawai Assembly seat, the voting was going on smoothly with people slowly coming out of their homes.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah urged voters to vote with their hearts.

There were reports of a grenade attack near a polling station at Naidkhai in Sonawari area and Nowpora in Bandipore but police termed the incidents as a tyre burst, a version contradicted by CRPF personnel who were guarding the polling booth.

In both the areas, grenades missed the target and exploded without causing any damage, officials said, adding voting was on.

In the prestigious Ganderbal area, which has been a traditional bastion of the Abdullah family for the last four decades, five per cent of polling had been recorded in the first hour.

Read: Explosion in Bandipora as polls in J-K get underway

The adjacent Kangan Assembly seat recorded six per cent polling in the first one hour.

Gurez, an Assembly seat located along the Line of Control in North Kashmir, however, saw people braving the early morning chill as the area recorded 9.5 per cent polling. In Bandipore and adjacent Sonawari, four and 6.5 per cent votes were cast in the first hour.
"People are coming out in large numbers to vote despite the cold, we must use our vote wisely," said a voter from Ganderbal.
Voters were seen standing in queue outside polling station to cast their vote.
"We have come here to vote today because we have seen lot of poverty. There are no roads, we have suffered a lot, and nobody has listened to our plight. We want a government who listens to us. There is lot of crowd because people of Ganderbal have suffered a lot; nobody has cared for the youth here. It's important to cast vote because if we will boycott polls then it will be our own loss," added another voter.
Meanwhile, in Bandipore and Doda districts many women voters were seen waiting outside the polling station.
In Jammu and Kashmir, fifteen assembly segments of the state are going to polls in the first phase. This includes all four-assembly seats of Ladakh, five seats in Kashmir and six seats in Jammu region.
The assembly segments going to polls tomorrow include Nobra, Leh, Kargil and Zanskar (in Ladakh); Gurez, Bandipora, Sonawari, Kangan and Ganderbal (in Kashmir) and Kishtwar, Inderwal, Doda, Bhaderwah, Ramban and Banihal (in Jammu division).
A total of 10,502,50 voters, including 5,49,698 males and 5,00,539 females, besides 13 transgender are eligible to exercise their right to franchise in the first phase of the polls. The counting of votes in Jammu and Kashmir will take place on December 23.
Polling for 13 of the 81 Assembly constituencies in Jharkhand, spread over six Maoist-affected districts, began at seven this morning amid tight security.

12 per cent polling in Jharkhand till 9 am
Twelve per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise in the first two hours of polling in 13 of the 81 Assembly constituencies of Jharkhand.

"About 12 per cent polling was reported till 9 AM," an Election Commission official said.

Voters, particularly women in large numbers, were seen standing in front of booths across the 13 constituencies as voting progressed smoothly and peacefully on a pleasant winter morning.

"Voting is going on peacefully in both Gumla and Bishunpur," Gumla Deputy Commissioner Gouri Shankar Minz and Superintendent of Police Bhimsen Tuti said.

Adequate security arrangements have been made in all the 13 constituencies which are Maoist-affected ----Chatra (SC), Gumla (ST), Bishunpur (ST), Lohardaga (ST), Manika (ST), Latehar (SC), Panki and Daltonganj, Bishrampur, Chhatarpur (SC), Hussainabad, Garhwa and Bhawanathpur.

The seats are spread over six districts. An electorate of 33,61,938, of whom 15,77,090 are women voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise today to choose among 199 candidates, including 18 women. Ten sitting MLAs are testing their fate in their respective constituencies today. Several former MLAs are also in the fray.

Jharkhand Rural Development minister Krishna Nand Tripathi of the Congress is the lone minister in the Hemant Soren Cabinet contesting from Daltonganj.

This is the third Assembly election in Jharkhand which was carved out of Bihar in 2000.

( Source : ani/pti )
DC Correspondent
About the AuthorDC Correspondent

    Latest News

    Next Story
    X
    sidekick