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72.25 lakh voters to elect 87 MLAs
BJP to go it alone; Congress explores possibility of seat sharing
NC not happy but ready to contest; PDP hails EC for sticking to schedule
Poll phases reduced from seven to five
Pak targets forward posts in Poonch
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Flood-hit Kashmir reacts with mixed emotions to poll announcement
Batote-Doda highway blocked due to landslides
Motorcyclist killed in road accident
Man shot dead in Shopian
Indian, Chinese troops meet in Ladakh
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72.25 lakh voters to elect 87 MLAs
Umang Narula, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters here this evening that as per the instructions of the Election Commission of India (ECI), free and fair polls would be held in the state. He said all requisite arrangements, including deployment of Central paramilitary forces, poll observers, randomisation of polling staff and videography of particular polling stations, were being made.
Replying to questions on polling in flood-affected areas, the Chief Electoral Officer said the “extent of displacement” had not been much in these areas and a majority of (displaced) people were residing within their areas of polling stations. “If there are any particular cases… we will look into that,” Narula said. He said only 99 polling stations, which were damaged during the recent floods, needed a change and added that in case of any requirements, “change in locations” would be made for the convenience of voters. On the recent transfers of some returning officers, Narula said there were clear instructions from the Election Commission that no such transfers should be made without informing the EC. “We are looking into that,” he said while replying a question on the recent transfers. Of the 87 Assembly constituencies, seven were reserved for SCs, the Chief Electoral Officer said, adding that according to the updated electoral rolls published on October 15 this year, the total number of voters in the state was 72,25, 559. At least 200 more voters were added after the electoral rolls had been published, he said. Narula said 94.2 per cent voters had been provided with photo electoral rolls of which 91 per cent had already been distributed. The photo electoral cards of the remaining voters would be included soon, he added. |
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BJP to go it alone; Congress explores possibility of seat sharing
Jammu, October 25 While the BJP has announced not to enter into pre-poll alliance with any party, the Congress on the other hand has decided to explore possibility of seat-sharing arrangement with some smaller groups like the Peoples Democratic Forum (PDF), Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Nationalist Party (JKDNP). Buoyed over results of Haryana and Maharashtra, the BJP has decided to contest the Assembly elections alone in J&K. The party has decided not to continue any further talk with the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) on seat-sharing agreement as BJP’s experience to go it alone in Haryana and Maharashtra has yielded encouraging results. “We will go it alone in the Assembly elections,” Rajya Sabha member and in charge of state BJP Avinash Rai Khanna told The Tribune. He said the BJP would contest all 87 Assembly segments on its own. Earlier, the BJP held discussions with the JKNPP for pre-poll alliance. After the devastating floods, the discussions were stopped. Khanna said a number of prominent politicians of other parties were in touch with the BJP and soon a decision would be taken to induct them into the party. “We will field potential candidates on all 87 seats because this time the BJP has set a target of forming its own government in J&K,” he said. While hailing the decision of the EC to announce schedule for the polls, Khanna said the party had already completed the first phase of its exercise to form panels for the Assembly segments. “We have already made nearly 12 persons as constituency in charge a month ago, which is clear indication that the party is ahead of other groups as far as preparations for elections are concerned,” he said. Meanwhile, AICC general secretary Ambika Soni, who is in charge of J&K Congress, said the party would explore the possibility of seat-sharing agreement with some smaller groups. “We are already in alliance with the JKDNP and the PDF,” she said and disclosed that discussions would be held with the leaders of these groups for pre-poll alliance. |
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NC not happy but ready to contest; PDP hails EC for sticking to schedule
Srinagar, October 25 “While the NC was keen to rehabilitate the flood-affected people before anyone else’s political rehabilitation the EC felt differently,” the Chief Minister, whose term ends in January next year, wrote on micro blogging site twitter. “Now with election dates announced there is no question of not contesting the forthcoming polls. We will put our best foot forward…. We will work to expose parties like PDP who have made it their stated mission to capitalise on the post-flood misery of the people,” Omar added. The PDP, however, hailed the EC for sticking to the schedule. The party said the flood-hit state needs a “stable and durable government” to carry on the relief and rehabilitation work. Reacting sharply to the NC’s criticism, PDP chief spokesperson Naeem Akhter said: “We are satisfied that the Election Commission has stuck to its schedule.” “While pitching for elections on time, we were also aware that Kashmir is passing through difficult times as the enormity of the situation demanded a stable and durable government to carry on the rehabilitation. But unfortunately the present government, which has completed its term, did everything except carrying out the rehabilitation and reaching out to the flood-affected,” Akhtar told The Tribune. Akhter alleged that the NC wanted another two or three months just to stay in power and “fill in pockets by swindling the money” for relief and rehabilitation. The separatists termed elections a “non-issue” and dubbed the announcement of poll schedule as the “most irreverent decision”. “The announcement of polls is the most irrelevant decision, which has come at a time when the people of Kashmir are yet to emerge from the catastrophic floods,” said hardline Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani. He said it was the most “atrocious” decision and criticised the mainstream political parties which favored holding of elections at this juncture. Asked if Hurriyat would run an election boycott campaign, Geelani said: “We will discuss the situation and decide accordingly.” The moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, meanwhile, termed elections as a “routine affair and a drama”. |
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Poll phases reduced from seven to five
Srinagar, October 25 This time the first phase of poll will be held on November 25 in which 15 Assembly segments would go to poll. “This time the ECI decided to reduce the polls to five phases. The poll phases were reduced on the inputs of the election officials, state government machinery and security officials in state. The weather, flood rehabilitation and security issues were the major reasons for reducing the phases,” said an election official in
Srinagar. The previous Assembly elections took place in the aftermath of an agitation over the Amarnath land row. Despite the
polarisation, the total poll percentage was recorded at 60.92. In the Valley it was 51.64 per cent. The polls were held on November 17, 23, 30 and December 7, 13, 17 and 24 in 2008. This time the polls will be held on November 25 and December 2, 9, 14 and 20. The counting of polls would be held on December 23. In the forthcoming elections, the polling in the first phase would take place in two districts of Bandipore and Ganderbal in the Kashmir region, two districts of Leh and Kargil in the Ladakh region and three districts of
Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban in the Jammu region. The polls have been scheduled in view of the weather conditions ahead of the approaching winter. |
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Pak targets forward posts in Poonch
Jammu, October 25 “Around 8.30 pm last night Pak troops of 641 Mujahid Regiment opened small arms and automatic weapons’ fire at the Indian posts in the Balakote sector from their Topa Giddarian and Mehal Dorian posts,” said an Intelligence source. The Pakistani troops also fired mortars forcing the Army to respond in equal measure, the source said, adding that the gun fight between the two sides lasted till 10.20 pm. Defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Mehta said around 8.30 pm Pak troops fired small arms, mortars and automatic weapons fire on the Indian posts. He added that our troops replied strongly. On Diwali, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Siachen and Srinagar, the Pakistan Rangers had fired at the forward posts in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts in a bid to provoke the BSF and flare up the international border. The state government has launched “Aapka school aapke gaon” scheme and other skill development programmes for the villages affected by Pak shelling within 5 km radius of the international border. It has also held special recruitment drives for these villages. Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, Shantmanu said the scheme envisages identification of suitable place in each village for accommodating students, besides ensuring arrangement of proper lighting and seating arrangements preferably in available school buildings/community halls and Panchayat Ghars to help them cope with
academic loss. Ceasefire violation by Pakistan since October 1 have so far left 10 people dead and over 95 injured. Over 35,000 people in nearly 120 forward villages of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts have been affected by Pak shelling. |
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Flood-hit Kashmir reacts with mixed emotions to poll announcement
Srinagar, October 25 In Lal
Chowk, the commercial nerve centre which remained submerged for nearly a fortnight and suffered immensely by the floods, very few people had any prior information about the announcement of the poll schedule. A shopkeeper reacted with a muted reply when asked about the announcement of election schedule while another one said the people would come out to vote in droves. “People don’t vote in the city, but they will vote in rural areas. This is what has been happening,” said Mohammad
Akram, a flood-affected shopkeeper. Obaid Ahmad, a government employee who served his first poll duty during the parliamentary elections earlier this year, expressed dismay at the announcement, saying the harsh winter will be a problem. “It is a wrong decision, the elections should have been postponed,” he
said. Shabir Ahmad, a private security guard at an office in city’s Karan Nagar locality and a resident of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, is sure that people would come out in good numbers to vote. “Everyone will vote,” he said. When asked about his own vote, he wasn’t sure. “I may or may not vote, who knows,” Ahmad said in tune with the unpredictability about the
local mood. For youth in Srinagar and other urban areas, which have largely stayed away from the past elections, the upcoming polls seem to have made a little charm. The mood is evident from the lull on their favourite debating space, the social media. “Does not matter,” posted Aabid Dar, a Srinagar resident, in reaction to the news of the poll announcement. |
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PHE employees injured in lathicharge
Srinagar, October 25 The protesting employees said they would continue their agitation against the state government for failing to regularise their services since 1994. Dozens of government employees were detained at the Kothi Bagh Police Station. The employees later raised slogans against the police. Earlier, the PHE Employees had also attempted to take a protest rally to the Chief Minister’s residence at Gupkar Road,
Srinagar, which was foiled by the police. “Around 1,500 employees, who have worked as daily wagers and casual
labourers, were left out by the state government in 2000 when regularisation took place, a majority of them being from the PHE Department. We have completed the mandatory years of service, which is required for our
regularisation, but the government has failed to meet our demands,” a delegation of the protesting employees said. The employees have been frequently staging protests in support of their demands. Over the past several months, the employees staged various demonstrations and sit-ins to press for their demands. |
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Batote-Doda highway blocked due to landslides
Batote, October 25 SK
Meena, Officer Commanding, General Reserve Engineering Force (Beacon), said big boulders and soil fell on the road near the
Chakwa bridge in Batote last night blocking the vehicular traffic. He added that efforts were on to clear the road for one-way traffic. Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers remained stranded on the road and have been waiting for the clearance of the road. Meanwhile, the landslide has caught the Beacon authorities unprepared as the organisation has been in the process of moving out their heavy machinery from the area following the state government’s decision of handing over the 265-km Batote-Anantnag via Sinthan Pass in the Kishtwar stretch to the
PWD. |
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Motorcyclist killed in road accident
Rajouri, October 25 Khadim Mughal, an eyewitness, said as the deceased turned back his vehicle towards the pump after fetching water he was hit by a “speeding Army vehicle”. After hitting Gurung the driver reportedly fled from the spot. SHO Yashpal Singh said the police have registered a case against the unidentified driver and started investigations.
— OC |
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Man shot dead in Shopian
Pulwama, October 25 As per reports Reyaz was picked up by two unidentified men who had asked him to accompany them to a nearby village. “Subsequently, the body was recovered in the morning with bullet injuries, 4 km away from his home,” said Feroz Ahmad, in charge police post, Keller.
— OC |
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Indian, Chinese troops meet in Ladakh
Jammu, October 25 Defence spokesperson Col SD Goswami said it was a routine meeting wherein a Brigade-level officer of the Army and a Colonel-level officer of the People’s Liberation Army led their respective
sides. — TNS |
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Srinagar, October 25