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Thursday, September 12, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Violence to rise as poll nears: Farooq EC satisfied with poll measures List of detainees submitted to EC NAGROTA CONSTITUENCY Campaigning restricted to towns only |
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MARH, AKHNOOR, VIJAYPUR NEWS ANALYSIS 11 all-woman polling stations in Kargil Congress nominee hurt in mishap
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Violence to rise as poll nears: Farooq Jammu, September 11 Senior Army officers, diplomats and other academicians participated in the seminar where they favoured sustained negotiations between India and Pakistan under the canopy of international pressure on Islamabad to stop aiding cross-border terrorism to resolve the Kashmir imbroglio. Dr Abdullah said: “There cannot be a military solution when both India and Pakistan have bombs.” He said: “The risk of misusing the nuclear capability by Pakistan, especially by the tribal leaders in the NWFP, is high from the Pakistan side where those in power think less and act fast.” On the sidelines of the seminar, the Chief Minister stressed the need for what he called strengthening” the Indo-Pak border. He said: “In some areas we are deep in the Pakistani territory and in other pockets they are in our areas. Hence of armed conflict having become severe.” He said if he LoC was straightened there was a possibility that the “line of hatred will disappear.” Dr Abdullah said he was being accused of blocking the peace process and was blamed for “my
incapability to tackle militancy.” He said: now I am leaving for several countries where I will persuade world leaders to work out a peace formula which may ensure normalcy in Kashmir.’ In reply to a question by a reporter the Chief Minister said he did not favour repetition of Agra-type experiment. He said the Indo-Pak talks should be resumed after Islamabad stopped aiding cross-border terrorism. Commenting
on the assassination of the Law Minister, Mr Mushtaq Ahmed Lone, and elimination of seven people in Surankot today former Army chief, Gen
(retd) V.P. Malik, former Foreign Secretary, Mr J.N. Dixit, and Dr Rekha
Chowdhary, organiser of the seminar, said these acts of violence were part of the Pakistan plan to derail the poll process. Gen Malik told a reporter that today’s killings were a major step in the direction of wrecking the peace process. Mr J.N. Dixit said the aim behind such incidents was to force the government to defer the poll by creating scare and terror among the people and the voters. He said Pakistani agencies and its supporters were trying to undo the credibility of the election and feared that the level of violence would increase with polling dates drawing near. Dr Rekha
Chowdhary, Head, of the Department of Political Science, Jammu University, said: “ Such acts of
violence are bound to terrorise people and voters.” She said : “ When people find that candidates, having a security cover, are vulnerable to rebel attacks then they could be an easy target.” She said the Pakistani’s aim was to derail the poll process by creating scare among the people so that they stay away from voting. |
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EC satisfied with poll measures Srinagar, September 11 “The Chief Election Commissioner, the Election Commissioner and several senior election officials visited various parts of the state and they were satisfied with poll arrangements in the state,” Chief Electoral Officer Pramod Jain told reporters here. Mr Jain said Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh reviewed the measures taken to ensure free, fair and violence- free poll in the state. On the security aspects, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) K. Rajindra Kumar said “adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure that militants do not succeed in disrupting the poll.” He, however, refused to divulge the number of security forces personnel posted at each polling station. On the role of surrendered militants during the poll, Mr K. Rajindra Kumar said “instructions have been issued to the agencies with which they are working that they be used strictly for the purpose they are meant. Their basic job is to provide information to security forces during counter-insurgency operations.” On the complaints of several Opposition candidates that they were not being provided security, he said the allegations were baseless. “In fact, I have complaint against some of them. They have been provided with two security vehicles and two PSOs, but they are travelling in the security vehicles, which they are not supposed to do,” he added. Giving details of measures taken by the commission, recently, Mr Jain said transfer orders of 25 officials, mostly engineers, had been rescinded as they joined their new posts after August two in violation of model code of conduct. Postings of some police personnel at staff training institute had also been rolled back, Mr Jain added. “The Station House Officer, Bandipora, has also been shifted as it was found that he was not functioning in on unbiased manner,” the Chief Electoral Officer said. Mr Jain said 264 candidates, including 16 women, were left in the fray for the 28 constituencies in Jammu, Srinagar and Badgam districts which go to the polls on September 24 in the second phase/ “We received 302 nominations out of which 18 were rejected and 20 withdrew,” he said. Mr Jain said over 2,400 election personnel who would perform duty in the first phase were flown to Srinagar over the past three days in 11 sorties. “The first batch of election staff from Punjab will arrive at Jammu by road,” he added. On the controversy about the age of a National Conference candidate from the Budgam segment, Mr Aga Syed Roohullah, Mr Jain said “the returning officer has followed the laws and rules. It is for the aggrieved party, if any, to take legal recourse through an election petition.”
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List of detainees submitted to EC Srinagar, September 11 They include prominent Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mohammad Yasin Malik. “We have sent a list of these detainees, who are lodged in various jails inside and outside the state to the EC before the elections,” Kashmir Inspector General of Police Rajendra Kumar said, adding that the names included political activists like Geelani, who was presently lodged in the Ranchi jail. This was done so that EC could ensure that these detainees participated in this democratic practice by exercising their right to postal ballot. The state IGP said: “Contrary to the allegations that thousands were languishing in the jails in the state, one will be surprised to know that there are only about 500 detainees in jails in the valley”. “Nearly 500 detainees are lodged in other jails including in Ranchi, Jammu, Udhampur and Jodhpur,” he said. Meanwhile the Election Commission today said the response to the electoral photo-identity cards had been “overwhelming” throughout Jammu and Kashmir with 11 lakh cards already issued and another eight lakh in the process. “The response to the photo-identity cards has been overwhelming,” Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Dheeraj Gupta told reporters here. Reiterating that the photo-identity cards were not mandatory for the ensuing poll in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Gupta said it was introduced to prevent impersonation.
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NAGROTA
CONSTITUENCY Nagrota (Jammu), September 11 The position of Mr Ajat Shatru, who is a minister and son of Dr Karan Singh, was not so comfortable till the time the Congress had not sidelined Mr Shiv Dev Singh who nursed the constituency for the past few years. Mr Shiv Dev Singh represented the constituency earlier. Nagrota has the distinction of never returning the sitting MLA in the six Assembly elections since 1962. It remained a stronghold of the Congress which won five elections but never repeated the candidate. Mr Dhan Raj Bargotra of the Janata Party won the election in 1977 during the party’s wave and it was for the first time that the National Conference wrested the seat in 1996 when Mr Ajat Shatru defeated Mr Bargotra who contested the election on Janata Party (S) symbol. Although Mr Shiv Dev Singh of the Congress secured the third position by polling 15.17 per cent votes, but people say that he stood a good chance this time because of the anti-incumbency factor. Moreover, Mr
Bargotra, who has also been nursing the constituency, has withdrawn from the contest in a bid to “prevent division of votes against the NC. However, the Congress was pinning its hopes on the visit of Mrs Sonia Gandhi which, they believe, might change the tide. Groupism between the PCC chief, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad and a veteran and Senior Vice-President, Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, has led to the not so encouraging position here. Party activists point out that Mr Sharma had supported the candidature of Mr Shiv Dev Singh, whereas the faction backing Mr Azad opposed him and gave the ticket to a virtually newcomer who is yet to make roots in this constituency. Although Mr Ajat Shatru has areas of influence here, but the residents of the places on this side of the Chenab complain that he did nothing for laying another bridge to connect Akhnoor across. In a stretch of over 40km there is only one bridge at Akhnoor. Many villages get cut off from rest of the constituency during monsoon. They pointed out that there was shortage of teachers in schools in the interior areas and there was drinking water problem as the sources had dried up in the kandi area. It is being alleged that Mr Ajat Shatru was not accessible to people of his constituency once the elections were over. The NC government is also being accused of having not taken any steps to restart drilling which was abandoned by the ONGC at Surinsar many years ago. The Jammu State Morcha
(JSM), demanding statehood for Jammu suffered a setback here as its nominee, Mr Jugal
Kishore, filed his nomination as a candidate of the BJP. |
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Campaigning restricted to towns only Srinagar, September 11 The main contestants in the Sopore constituency comprising 64,997 voters include its sitting member, political stalwart and Legislative Assembly Speaker, Mr Abdul Ahad Vakil of the ruling National Conference. He is pitted against Abdul Rashid of the Congress, Ghulam Nabi Sofi of the Janata Dal (U), Ghulam Mohammad Mir of the Peoples Democratic Party and three Independents, Peer Abdul Aziz, Abdul Rahman Lone and Wali Mohammad Trunkroo. There are a total of 64,997 voters for whom 87 polling stations have been set up. The apple rich town of Sopore is also known for being politically volatile. It is also the home town of the senior Congress leader, a former PCC chief, minister and MP, Mr Ghulam Rasool Kar, even as he seems to be in a state of oblivion there. The constituency, however, not represented by Ghulam Rasool Kar has been represented by the firebrand Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in the 1972, 1977 and 1987 elections. In the 1983 elections, it was represented by Hakeem Habibullah of the National Conference and former Chairman of the Legislative Council. Even as the polling day approaches nearer, no visible campaigning is observed in the main town, which has been a witness to a number of militant activities for several years, The election activity is visible in selected pockets of the Zaingeer area, with an anti- NC mood. In the nearby Bandipore constituency having 60,852 voters with 91 polling stations, there are six candidates in the fray. They include two former militants, Javed Ahmad Shah (MLC) of the ruling National Conference and Abdul Majeed Ganai, alias Usman Majeed of Kukka Parray’s Awami League. Only the Congress candidate, Habibullah Bhat is an old political stalwart from the area in the fray, though he has never been elected to the Assembly in any of the elections so far. Except for Mohammad Anwar Khan of the Congress, who was elected twice from the area in the 1967 and 1972 elections, the seat has always been bagged by the National Conference. Mohammad Khalil of the NC was elected twice in 1977 and 1983, while the sitting member, Ghulam Rasool Mir was elected twice in 1987 and 1996 elections. The campaigning in this town is restricted only to the main market place. The area is known for its large number of educated population and the soil of many mainstream and separatist political personalities. “There is hardly a candidate with political stature”, said a local youth on the condition of anonymity, adding that there was threat from militants also. The militants had killed a close associate of the NC nominee Javed Ahmad Shah in the area recently. “We are never given a proper choice… and only the least educated members represent us in the august House of the state legislature”, said a college teacher from the area. The educated class of the area is “dissatisfied” with the political nature of the area, as their “aspirations are ignored”. Two former militant leaders and unknown candidates from the PDP as also the independents are “no substitute” to the educationally enlightened people of the area, that is known for the great Kashmir historiographer, Hassan Khoihami, known after the Great Kalhana, and great Kashmiri poet, Abdul Ahad Nadim. The Gurez constituency carved out of Bandipore, under the J&K Representation of the peoples Act, 1957, in April 1995 lies along the LoC and has been witness to a number of cross-border firing and shelling incidents over the years. It remains cut off from the rest of the valley for over six months of winter. An electorate of 12,280 voters for whom 21 polling stations have been set up, will decide the fate of five candidates. The seat had gone to an Independent, Faqir Mohammad Khan in the 1996 elections, who later joined the ruling National Conference. The ruling party has nominated Nazir Ahmad Gurezi as its candidate from Gurez, while the sitting NC member, Faqir Mohammad Khan is contesting as an Independent.
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MARH, AKHNOOR, VIJAYPUR Marh (Jammu), September 11 There are discernible anti-NC ripples, if not the wave, in this constituency where Mr Ajay Sandhotra is locked in multicornered contest with major threat from the Congress and the BJP candidates who were in the field in 1996 election. In 1996 Mr Sandhotra had won by 813 votes defeated his nearest rival Mr Sukhnandan Kumar of the BJP. The Congress candidate, Mr Balwan Singh, had finished fourth with 4432 votes and the BSP had polled 5760 votes. This time the BSP candidate, Mr Girdhari Lal, has been replaced by Mr Ashok Kumar. Mr Ajay Sandhotra’s style of working, nature and accessibility to people do not seem to give him the edge on the BJP’s Mr Sukhnandan Kumar and Mr Balwan Singh of the Congress. Mr Bishen Das who owns a PCO said “for us the NC and the Congress candidates are outsiders as they belong to Jammu city whereas the BJP candidate lives in the constituency and has nursed it for the past several years”. Subash Chander, a trader, said “the contest here is among the candidates belonging to the NC, the Congress and BJP.” He and others admit that the BSP is a force to reckon with but if its candidate failed to secure 100 per cent support of Dalit voters it may help the Congress. There is murmur of resentment against the National Conference Government for having ignored this constituency to support the contention they refer to bad roads, shortage of drinking water, power crisis and unemployment. Shamsher Singh, a shopkeeper at Gajansoo, said, “look at this main road. It is a shambles. The road that links Jammu city with Marh and Gajansoo has been developed by the CREF.” As one enters into the constituency one finds a ‘war’ of flags and buntings among the candidates belonging to the Congress, the BSP and the National Conference. When the BJP’s supporters were reminded of it they said “These three organisations have money power, we have none. We bank on voters’ support.” The constituency has more than 64,000 voters for whom 57 polling stations have been set up. The NC banks on split in the anti-NC voters as was the case in 1996 when the three main opposition candidates together secured over 19,000 votes against 10,000 polled by the NC nominee. Though there are 11 candidates in the field in Akhnoor constituency. The contest is among the candidates belonging to the NC, the Congress, the BJP and the BSP. While the NC and the BJP have renominated their candidates the Congress and the BSP have put up new faces. The Congress has fielded Mr Madan Lal Sharma, a former Minister, the BSP has fielded staunch opponent of the NC candidate, Mr Govind Ram Sharma, in Dr Gafoor Ahmed. Dr Ahmed sought premature retirement from the Government services to “teach a lesson to Mr Govind Ram who as a Minister, had teased and tormented me.” In 1996 the BSP polled 7684 votes and out over 77,000 voters the Dalit voters constitute nearly 25 per cent. This way the ability of Dr Gafoor to garner a large chunk of Dalit votes would affect the Congress candidate. But Mr Ashok Misra, a prominent Congress worker said “the BSP candidate may get more votes from the Gujjars, which have over 3,000 voters, than the Dalits and this can help our candidate.” What seems to have given fillip to the Congress campaign is the involvement of some close relations of Mr Govind Ram Sharma, NC candidate, including his nephew, Mr Rakesh Sharma, supporting the Congress. The Congress leaders consider the contest in this constituency against the BJP. Mr Ram Swaroop of the BJP is quite popular in the area and this was the reason that Mr Chander Mohan Sharma, BJP vice-president, who was nominated for Akhnoor seat refused to contest and seconded Mr Ram Swaroop’s candidature. Brahmin voters constitute over 50 per cent and since Mr Kuldeep Sharma is in the field as Shakti Dal candidate he may secure a sizeable chunk of Brahmin votes. In 1996 poll, he, as an independent candidate secured 6401 votes thereby being number five. If the anti-incumbency factor does weigh heavy on the mind of voters the NC may find it difficult to win as in 1996 Mr Govind Ram had won by a margin of 272 votes against his nearest rival Mr Ram Swaroop of the BJP. Here also the NC’s optimism stems from the possible split in the anti-NC votes. Like Marh and Akhnoor in Vijaypur constituency the NC candidate, Mr S.S. Slathia, Power Minister, has the advantage of muscle and money power. His resources are more than that of the Congress, the BJP and the BSP. It is evident from the fleet of vehicles at the disposal of NC poll managers and workers and from the size of flags and buntings that adding colour to Vijaypur contest. One thing peculiar of this constituency is that women voters are more than the men voters. While there are 46183 men voters, there are 46679 women voters out of the total of 92862 electorate. Consequently, the women voters are in a position to tip the scales. But Mr Sham Lal, running tractor repair service station, said “we do not expect major chunk of women voters to cast votes. If they do most of them will follow the advice given to them by their menfolk.” In 1996 when there was no anti-incumbency factor in the constituency the NC candidate, Mr S.S. Slathia, won with 218 votes against his nearest rival Mr Manjit Singh of the BSP. Mr Manjit Singh is again in the field. Judged from the performance of the BJP and the Congress in 1996 elections the contest in Vijaypur may ultimately be between the NC and the BSP though there are 11 candidates in the field. However, the Congress leaders are optimistic on the plea that this time it has fielded Mr Prakash Sharma a Congress veteran, who had successfully contested 1983 and 1987 poll from the nearby Samba constituency. They said that in 1996 it nominated a woman who later proved lightweight as she could secure only 5484 votes thereby remaining at the third place. The BJP has fielded better candidate than it did in 1996 and Mr Chander Prakash Sharma may give some moments of worry to the NC. But indications are that the NC has an advantage over his rivals. The NC has pinned hopes on these three constituencies. The perennial shortage of power is one major factor that may go against the NC candidate in Vijaypur but services in other sectors in the constituency rendered by Mr Slathia may help him to humble the main rival from the BSP. One thing is certain it is going to be a very close contest in all these three constituencies. The winners may win by narrow margin but the NC would prefer to win these three seats even if the margin of victory is less than 500. |
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NEWS ANALYSIS Jammu, September 11 Both people and the candidates did not heed to the warning of militants. And with pre-poll rallies attracting large crowds, militants had no other alternative but to strike. A week ago, an Independent, Sheikh Abdul Rehman, was killed in Handwara. And today the ruling National Conference received another blow when the Minister of State for Law, Mr Mushtaq Ahmed Lone, was gunned down along with six party workers. With today’s incident, militants have eliminated 16 political activists and wounded 14 in grenade and gun fire in the past 11 days. Nine political activists had been killed during August. Militants have started mounting pressure on the voters to stay away from the poll. Wireless messages intercepted by the security agencies have revealed that the rebels have been given clear instructions to carry out massive bomb and IED explosions to scare away people. The way the Law Minister’s cavalcade was ambushed by first damaging his bulletproof car and then resorting to heavy firing indicates that the Pak-trained guerrillas have been equipped with sufficient explosives to carry out result-oriented operations. In the Jammu region 15 civilians and six security personnel have been killed during the past fortnight to create scare among the people. The aim of the pro-Pakistan elements is to ensure very poor polling to convince the world that people wanted a plebiscite and not an election. Reports from security and intelligence agencies have confirmed that the level of militancy-related violence would witness a sharp escalation during the next one month. |
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11 all-woman polling stations in Kargil Kargil, September 11 He said that had been done to ensure that women voters came out in large numbers to cast their vote. “Society in the Kargil district is very conservative...women strictly follow the “purdah” system and mixing of opposite sexes is almost impossible. The system of exclusive women polling stations was started in the district in 1980s,’’ he said. Another senior government official said women voters had made the demand for separate polling stations in the district as they were averse to standing in the same line along with the men folk, which had been a major factor in their staying away from polling earlier. A total of 219 polling stations have been set up for over 86,000 voters in two segments of the district, where women voters outnumber their male counterparts. There are more than 45,000 female voters as compared to slightly more than 40,000 male voters in the district.
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Congress nominee hurt in mishap Jammu, September 11 The accident occurred when the candidate, Ramesh, was going for campaigning at Sunderbani in the Nowshera belt here this morning. The injured were hospitalised in the Sunderbani hospital and the Congress candidate was discharged after giving first-aid. The Noushera constituency goes to the polls in the first phase of election on September 16 along with 26 other constituencies of Poonch, Baramula, Kupwara and Kargil districts.
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