Uri (JK): The daring militant attack on an Army camp here last Friday shook the people of this town, situated close to Line of Control in Kashmir, but it did not deter them from exercising their franchise as voters thronged the polling station on Tuesday morning.
Hundreds of voters were standing long queues outside the polling station at Mohra, located barely a kilometre away from the army camp that witnessed a bloody encounter on December 5, leaving 11 security forces personnel and the six assailants dead. “We were shocked that a militant attack has taken place in our village or for that matter anywhere in Uri town. This has been a peaceful area and largely unaffected by militancy,” Tahir Iqbal, a resident of Mohra, told PTI.
However, there was no reason not to cast vote as people had very high stakes in the democratic process, he said. “Whatever might have been the reason for the militants to strike in Mohra, we cannot forego our right. This area is faced with huge problems and we want accountability from our representatives,” he added.
Enthusiasm among voters was evident as within three hours of polling, nearly 200 votes were cast at the polling station located in a government middle school nestled in the mountains.
A village elder, Abdul Rahim, said the biggest problem faced by people of Mohra and Uri constituency in general, was unemployment. “Thousands of educated youth are unemployed. Nothing has been done to address this issue over the past two decades,” he said.
All eyes are on Uri and Tral constituencies, which were hit by militant violence ahead of the polls.
The first two phases of elections in the state saw a record turnout of over 70 per cent, with voters ignoring boycott calls by separatists and militant outfits.
The stakes are high for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as it held nine of the sixteen Assembly constituencies which have an electorate of 13.69 lakh electors, including 6.51 lakh women. A total of 144 candidates are in the fray including 10 other sitting MLAs. 1,781 polling stations have been set up.
Omar, who chose to contest from Beerwah in Budgam instead of his family bastion of Ganderbal, hopes that some of the recent steps taken by his government for the area will help him sail through in the constituency which was won by PDP candidates in the last two elections.
Omar, who is seeking a second term in the Assembly, faces a stiff challenge from sitting PDP MLA Mohammad Shafi Wani and Congress nominee Nazir Ahmad Khan, whose father Sarfaraz Khan had won from Beerwah in 2002 elections as a PDP candidate.
PDP represents nine of the 16 seats while the ruling NC holds only four. Congress and Peoples Democratic Front won one seat each in the last polls while one seat went to Independent.
While seven assembly seats fall in Baramulla district, five are in Budgam and four in Pulwama. (PTI)