M A I N   N E W S

40 pc turnout in Pampore bypoll
Tribune News Service

No talking, please. A female voter asks other women to maintain silence as they turned out in force to cast their vote in a polling station of the Pampore Assembly constituency on  Wednesday. — PTI photo

Ignoring the call of the Hizbul Mujahideen to boycott polling, voters in long queues amid tight security waited outside polling stations set up for byelections to the Pampore Assembly constituency in Pulwama district of south Kashmir today. The voters came out in large numbers at many places as compared to the Assembly elections held in October last year, when the PDP candidate, Mr Abdul Aziz Mir, was elected from this constituency.

The byelections to this constituency were necessitated following the killing of the MLA at the hands of unidentified gunmen in his native Konibal village on December 10 last year. This time, the main contest is between the PDP candidate, Mr Zahoor Ahmad Mir, son of the assassinated MLA, and the National Conference candidate, Mushtaq Ahmad Kuchay, apart from seven Independents.

The police and paramilitary troops had a tough time at many places to check the large number of voters gathered outside the polling stations.

Many voters complained of their inability to properly make use of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) used for today’s polling as per the practice in the last Assembly elections.

The polling reflected the impact of demolition drive launched by the PDP-led coalition government during the recent months, which led to the removal of hundreds of encroachments at Pampore, about 15 km from here on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. The move, according to the PDP, has been supported by the people in general, while the National Conference has blamed the government for its failure to rehabilitate those affected.

Protests had been held here against the demolition drive of the government, even as National Conference leaders, including former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, had to face angry mobs over the issue during their campaign recently.

Meanwhile, the National Conference has alleged that the official machinery was misused for the electioneering and conduct of polling in the constituency.

The PDP leader, Ms Mehbooba Mufti, has claimed that there was a good turnout of voters who had gained confidence following the last Assembly elections.