The residents of Tragpora and Rohama villages on Sunday voted to please their local candidates contesting the District Development Council (DDC) and panchayat polls.
The voters said that they participated in the election process to make their local candidates, who were their relatives or neighbours, happy.
“We don’t have expectations of jobs or development of the area. We voted in assembly elections in the past and didn’t get anything in return from the ministers. How can we dream of anything by casting votes for Panchs or DDC members,” said Ghulam Rasool of Tragpora.
An elderly voter Muhammad Akbar said he voted to please the Panch candidate.
“He is my relative and he came to my home in the morning and requested me to cast my vote. I could not say no to him,” he said.
The opinion among the youth about exercising their right to franchise was divided.
A 28-year-old man said the politicians were “cheaters” as they would “disappear” after winning polls. However, another youth interrupted him saying in case of DDC and Panch elections, the candidates being local will always be accessible unlike the MLAs, ministers and parliament members.