Srinagar, February 3
Both the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and opposition National Conference, which emerged victorious in the Srinagar Municipal Corporation elections, have hailed the outcome of the elections here. While the PDP and the Congress got sweeping majority in Baramula and Kupwara districts of north Kashmir, the NC got a comfortable majority emerging winner in 41 wards in the 68-member corporation.

Ms Mehbooba Mufti, PDP President, said here today that people here came out to vote for the civic amenities. “They (Kashmiris) still vote for the resolution of the Kashmir issue through a dialogue process” between India and Pakistan, opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road and other measures pursued by the coalition government, Ms Mufti said.

It was the victory of the government as her party, unlike the National Conference, had pursued the agenda honestly since it came to power over two years ago, she added.

“We are very happy about the enthusiastic participation of people in the elections.... It is a great success”, she said. The results showed that the people of this city “acknowledged the policies of the ruling parties”.

The elections set at rest all allegations of rigging and electoral malpractices saying that it enhanced the respectability of the election process in Kashmir. Ms Mufti held that her party had won a large number of votes polled and if polling in city had not been low it would have won more seats.

There was jubilation within the National Conference, which had accused the government of mass rigging on the day of polling here on Tuesday. NC patron and former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and party President Omar Abdullah have also hailed the peoples verdict.

A large gathering of jubilating National Conference workers converged at the party headquarters Nawa-i-Subh here. Addressing the gathering, Sheikh Nazir, general secretary of the National Conference, reiterated his party’s demand on the restoration of internal autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir. He also called for an economic uplift of society and stressed upon the workers and elected members to contribute in this direction.

Jammu, February 3
The ruling Congress received severe setback in the first-ever election to the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) as it failed to reach the magic strength of 36 to hold the civic body without the support of others.

Despite being the single largest party, winning 27 seats in the 71-member corporation, the Congress is being seen as a loser as its performance was poor, particularly in the city where it had won all three Assembly seats and also the Lok Sabha seat a few months ago.

The Congress leaders are worried at the sudden fall in the popularity graph of the party, that was the main partner in the PDP-led coalition government.

Not only that, the performance of the party has been dismal in the corporation wards falling in the Assembly constituency represented by Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma.

All this is being attributed to the failure of the Congress to keep election promises made by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, including that of removing regional “imbalances”.

Independents hold the key to the corporation with the verdict of the people hung with no single party being able to secure the magic figure of 36.

It was a respite for the BJP. It managed to win 26 seats. Besides, two of its rebels also won. The BJP has regained strength after having been virtually wiped off from the town in the Assembly election.

However, it might be in a position to stake claim to the mayor’s post as the National Conference (NC) with six members has yet to make up its mind whether to support it or not. The NC President, Mr Omar Abdullah, would meet the newly elected councillors here tomorrow to formulate the future strategy.

Even if the BJP and the NC join hands, they might not be in a position to rule the corporation as six of the nine independent councillors are rebels of the Congress and the party would leave no stone unturned to secure their support.

The PDP of Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed that fielded 19 candidates has won only two seats. However, this is being seen as an achievement for the party that has been accused of being soft towards militants.

The newly set up Praja Parishad, a breakaway group of the BJP, has failed to win a single seat.

Srinagar, February 3
The police today detained four senior separatist leaders, including JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik and Democratic Freedom Party leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, at Khanabal in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir while they were allegedly heading for an anti-civic poll campaign in the area, official sources said here.

Mr Malik, Mr Shah, Mr Mushtaq ul Islam and Mr Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi were leading around 100 supporters on a boycott campaign in the district when they were stopped by the police at Khanabal and taken into custody, the sources said.

The leaders claimed that the police used brute force to disperse a peaceful rally without any provocation and several persons, including Mr Shah and Mr Malik, were injured.

Mr Shah said he and Mr Malik had been taken to the hospital at district Police Lines, Anantnag, for treatment.

Mr Malik is unconscious and I believe I have one or two broken ribs as police lathi-charged the peaceful rally, he claimed.

However, the police officials at control room, Anantnag, denied they had detained or injured any separatist activists at Khanabal.

As soon as the news of the police action against Mr Malik reached here, his supporters in the Maisuma locality of Lal Chowk closed shops and business establishments by force and pelted police personnel posted in the area with stones. — PTI

Jammu, February 3
The Governor, Lieut-Gen S.K. Sinha (retd) yesterday announced that 1,500 upgraded Micro hydroelectric projects would be set up in the state.

Over 300 mini-projects have been upgraded and work on the remaining projects would start this year, the Governor said after inspecting an upgraded mini-project near Tikkri in Udhampur district. He was accompanied by the Army Commander, Lieut-Gen Hari Prasad.

He said the mini-projects would electrify all border villages in a phased manner, empower rural community in economically deprived areas and help in bringing about normalcy in the state.

Mentioning the Army’s Sadhbavana operations, he said having wider reach, the programme would be implemented soon.

He said the Central and state governments were working in tandem to provide much-needed economic respite to the people of the state. The Governor urged the Army Commander to organise camps to apprise border people of the benefits of various schemes.

General Prasad said the poor and deprived people, who had witnessed continued violence in the wake of terrorism for over a decade, deserved a better deal and the Army was trying its best to give it to them.

The Army had carried out the upgradation of a micro-hydroelectric project at Samundrani village in Tikkri by using latest technology to enable it to generate 3 or 5 KW of power. The unit can also perform functions like flour-grinding, cotton combing etc.

The project has been completed at a cost of Rs 2.5 lakh and will benefit people living in peripheral areas. It will also act as an experimental centre for the Army to further explore and enhance the technology in fulfilling its vision to upgrade over a 1,000 such projects in the state.