J&K urban local body polls: Low voter turnout in Srinagar, Ganderbal, mobile internet services suspended

In the fourth and final phase of urban local body polls in J&K, voting is being held in 36 wards on Tuesday.

JAMMU: Polling for the fourth and final phase of the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) elections is currently underway in 36 wards in six districts of Jammu and Kashmir, including Srinagar and Ganderbal, amid unprecedented security on Tuesday. The counting of votes cast in all four phases will be done on October 20. 

Here are the latest updates:-

-Voter turnout recorded in Ganderbal is 6.4% & Srinagar is 1.6% till 10 AM in the fourth phase of urban local body elections.

-Participation is good. I expect that as the weather clears, turnout will be better. If someone attempts in stone-pelting, we'll take strict action. There are more than 20 CAPF and police jawans at each polling station. Mobile teams are also deployed: K Poswal, SSP Ganderbal.

Participation is good. I expect that as weather clears, turnout will be better. If someone attempts stone pelting, we'll take strict action. There are more than 20 CAPF&police jawans at each polling station. Mobile teams are also deployed: K Poswal, SSP Ganderbal #JammuAndKashmir pic.twitter.com/jDf8TJ62d3

— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2018

-Voting is currently underway in Srinagar, here are some visuals from a polling station there.

#JammuAndKashmir: Voting underway for the fourth phase of urban local body polls; #Visuals from a polling station in Srinagar. pic.twitter.com/z435VxrAf5

— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2018

-Voting underway for the fourth phase of urban local body polls; some visuals from a polling station in Ganderbal.

Jammu & Kashmir: Voting underway for the fourth phase of urban local body polls; #Visuals from a polling station in Ganderbal pic.twitter.com/A8TNsGdfkZ

— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2018

-High-speed mobile internet services have been suspended in South and central Kashmir including Srinagar due to fourth phase of urban local body polls.

Jammu & Kashmir: High-speed mobile internet services suspended in South and central Kashmir including Srinagar due to fourth phase of urban local body polls.

— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2018

-Voting underway for the fourth phase of urban local body polls; early morning visuals from a polling station in Ganderbal.

Jammu & Kashmir: Voting underway for the fourth phase of urban local body polls; #Visuals from a polling station in Ganderbal pic.twitter.com/Fj07FZ4xnl

— ANI (@ANI) October 16, 2018

Final phase of ULB polls in J&K

In this phase, out of total 133 wards, polling is being held in 36 wards. There are 44 wards where there is no nomination filled.

There are a total of 3,20,969 voters. In the final phase, the electorate will seal the fate of 150 candidates in Srinagar and Ganderbal districts.

Officials said arrangements have been made for the smooth conduct of the polls which are scheduled to begin at 6.00 AM and end at 4.00 PM.

They said the election staff and polling material have reached to respective polling stations. Heavy security deployment has been made near the polling stations, while security forces have been carrying out area-domination exercises over the last couple of days, officials said.

Eight municipal bodies spanning across six districts - all in Kashmir valley - were scheduled to go for polls on Tuesday in the fourth and final phase. However, out of the eight, only two will see voting. 

There will be no contest in the rest of the six bodies.

The Ganderbal Municipal Committee will see voting in 12 wards out of the 17 in total. 

Polling will be held in 24 out of the total 25 wards in the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) in the summer capital of the state.

Only these 36 wards will go to polls on Tuesday, in which 150 candidates are in the fray - 38 in Ganderbal and 112 in Srinagar. 

Five candidates from Ganderbal and one from Srinagar have been elected unopposed.

The rest of the bodies -- Pattan in Baramulla district of North Kashmir, Pampore, Pulwama, Khrew, Shopian, and Dooru Verinag in Anantnag district will see no voting.

Together these six bodies have 90 wards. While candidates from 11 wards out of the total 13 in the Pattan municipal body have been elected unopposed, two wards received no nomination papers.

Not a single nomination paper was submitted in any of the 13 wards of the Khrew municipal body. In the Pampore municipal body, which has 17 wards, five candidates were elected unopposed, while 12 wards received no nomination papers.

Out of the 13 wards in Pulwama municipal body, no candidate was in the fray in 11 wards while two candidates were elected unopposed.

In the 17 wards of Shopian, 12 were elected without contest, while five wards received no nominations.

While one ward received no nomination in the municipal body of Dooru Verinag, 16 candidates were elected uncontested.

In total, out of the 132 wards across the eight bodies 44 wards received no nominations, while 52 wards saw candidates getting elected without contest.

National Conference, along with PDP and CPI(M), has boycotted the polls due to the legal challenge to Article 35-A of the Constitution in the Supreme Court.

The voter turnout in the first two phases of the civic polls in the valley has been low. While 8.3 percent of the electorate turned up to vote in the 83 wards in the first phase on October 8, the poll percentage fell to an abysmal 3.4 percent in the second phase held on October 10.

The third phase of polling for civic bodies in Kashmir on October 13 witnessed a low turnout of just 3.49 percent, in line with the trend set in the first two phases.