By Majid Jahangir
Crisscrossing through narrow alleys with loose electric cables hanging, a group of young people carrying political party flags urge people to realise the power of their vote and exercise their rights to franchise on May 13. From shopkeepers to pedestrians, everyone looks at these slogan-chanting youths with amusement as they make their way into the city interiors.
Welcome to Srinagar city, once the epicentre of the separatist movement, it is now experiencing a heated poll campaign. The city is witnessing the heat and dust of mainstream politics full throttle. People are now ready to shun “boycott politics” by making a difference by their vote.
The Srinagar parliamentary constituency spread over five districts – Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal in central Kashmir and Pulwama and Shopian in south Kashmir districts — that will vote on Monday.
This will be the first time after J&K’s special status was scrapped in 2019 that people in Kashmir would be voting in the first major electoral exercise. J&K has been under central rule since June 2019 after the fall of the PDP-BJP government.
With a staggering 17.4 lakh voters, the constituency is set to witness a triangular contest between National Conference’s influential Shia leader Ruhullah Mehdi, Peoples Democratic Party’s youth leader Waheed Para, and Apni Party’s Mohammad Ashraf Mir. There are a total of 24 candidates in the fray.
The NC and PDP, the two constituents of the INDIA bloc are contesting against each other. These two regional giants were arch-rivals before the scrapping of Article 370. Srinagar constituency has been a bastion of the NC, with the party winning the seat 12 times out of all the parliamentary elections. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, NC president Farooq Abdullah won from Srinagar.
Over the last few weeks, Srinagar and other districts of the Lok Sabha seat have been witnessing heated poll campaigns that were unimaginable after militancy broke out in Kashmir in the early 1990s.
“Traditionally, Srinagar residents have avoided voting due to separatist boycott calls. However, this time, things are different and there is no call for the poll boycott,” said Moeen, a resident of Khanyar Srinagar.
In the absence of a boycott threat, the voting percentage is likely to break all previous records in the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat. In 2019 Srinagar witnessed a turnout of 14.43 per cent Lok Sabha polls.
“The scrapping of the special status in 2019, the downgrading of the state into two Union Territories, and denial of the rights may prompt many to vote this time,” said another Srinagar resident Showkat Ahmed, 50, who has never voted in his life so far.
The NC and PDP candidates focused their poll campaign around Article 370 and promised to raise issues for returning of dignity and rights that were snatched in 2019. The Apni Party sought votes for restoration of statehood, land rights and generating employment.
As per the Election Commission of India’s data, nearly 2,000 polling stations have been designated across the five districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Budgam, Pulwama, and Shopian. Officials said that all the polling stations in the constituency are critical.
They said there has not been a single violent or any law and order incident in Srinagar district during the poll campaign.
Police said elaborate security arrangements are in place to ensure peaceful and smooth polling.
