Srinagar, Oct 09: The completion of all the four phases of elections in Jammu and Kashmir has proved that the people of the state have rejected the rule of bullet and favoured ballot despite heightened killings by militants which left more than 250 people dead. An official spokesman of the state government said that militants resorted to several methods to scare away voters but the fact that over 40 per cent of people cast their ballot was in itself an indication of the victory of ballot over bullet.
The spokesman, while detailing the number of incidents since the electoral process began in the state, said that 210 innocent civilians had been killed by militants besides gunning down 45 political activists of which the ruling National Conference bore the major brunt with 28 activists and candidates of the party falling prey to militancy.

This was followed by five workers of Peoples Democratic Party, three of Communist Party of India (Marxist), five independent candidates, three of Nationalist Congress Party and one of Congress, the spokesman said.
Besides this, three panchayat members and one sarpanch were also shot dead by militants, he said.

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During the entire operations, the spokesman said, 143 police and security personnel also laid down their lives, whereas 35 militants were shot dead.
The spokesman further said that ever since elections were announced, Pakistan and the militants sponsored by it did everything to derail this process.

In fact, it was a fight between manipulation or sabotage by militants and people's determination to express their free will through transparent and credible elections and at the end the people won, he said.
Commending the people of the state, the spokesman said that keeping the nefarious designs of the militants and separatist outfits of the state in mind, voters had shown unparalleled courage. Bureau Report