Bijbehara block of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district witnessed only a few odd villages turning out to vote while the rest stayed away.
Panjpora and Dadoo, the two remotest villages of the block saw good number of people turning out to cast their vote.
“I am voting for the development of our hamlet which is devoid of all basic facilities,” said Nooruddin Khatana of Dadoo village.
He hoped that the representative they chose would address their basic issues.
In Guri, Newbugh and Veeri, the native village of PDP leader Abdul Rehman Bhat (Veeri) and NC leader Bashir Ahmad Shah (Veeri), people in ones and twos were seen moving towards polling booths and casting their vote.
“The people who voted here did so to protect their identity,” said an elderly villager, Ghulam Muhammad.
However, in dozens of other villages, polling booths wore a deserted look. These included the ones in Sangam, Naina, Marhama, Arwani, Jablipora, Waghama, Dupatyar, Gantalipora, Wubzan, Katritang, Takia-Maqsood Shah, and Mahand.
Many polling booths did not even attract a single voter and in others, the figures remained in single digits.
“People here usually don’t vote in any election. So, that tradition is being followed in the DDC polls too,” the villagers said.