A long queue of voters, the Sarpanch and Panch candidates looking at the list of voters to ensure none of their supporter misses the chance to cast his or her vote. The scene at Govt girls higher secondary school Gingal Uri on Saturday looked festive, with both male and female candidates thronging at the polling booth for the first phase of Panchayat election.
The Uri area witnessed highest turnout of voters for the first phase of Panchayat elections on Saturday. For 13 Sarpanch and 101 Panch constituencies in Uri, 84.28 voter turnout was recorded.
Ashiq Hussain, a staunch supporter of Congress party who works at Srinagar as a baker, has returned from Srinagar for the polling day to ensure he does not miss the opportunity to cast his vote.
“I boarded an Uri bound Sumo vehicle from Srinagar at around 9 a.m. today to ensure that I cast my vote in favour of our local candidate,” said Ashiq Hussain.
“Unlike other parts of Kashmir that often attracts attention for development, here in our area which is a border town, the role of elected representatives be it panchayat or assembly elections is always decisive. During the last one decade, the area has by and large witnessed some development due to the efforts of our elected representatives and we want to continue that by electing our panchayat representative,” added Ashiq.
Farooq Ahmad Joo registered win from Gingal-A as Sarpanch. He defeated his rival candidate by a margin of 150 votes. The elevated elected Sarpanch from Gingal-A while commenting on his win said, “The local issues with which we are supposed to deal are related to day to day life and above all development of the area.”
“We have enormous issues here. Our representation in private sector like NHPC is almost zero. People living below poverty line have to run from pillar to post for BPL registration. These little issues might sound inappropriate for people living in towns and cities but for the people of this border town, these issues are matter of survival,” said Farooq Ahmad Joo.
Five blocks which include Kunzar, Uri, Parampeela, Noorkhah and Kandi belt of Rafiabad of Baramulla district went for the first phase of panchayat polls on Saturday.
The lowest turnout was witnessed in Kunzar block. The voter turnout here as per officials remained just 10.70 percent which is lowest among the five blocks. The highest turnout was witnessed in Parampeela block of Uri. The area witnessed highest polling turnout of 86.04 followed by Uri 84.28. The Noorkhah block witnessed voter turnout of 63.84 percent followed by Kandi belt of Rafiabad with 54.76 % voter turnout.