The District Development Council (DDC) constituency of Narwav in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district that was reserved for women witnessed moderate voter turnout on Monday.
As per District Election Officer, the area witnessed 35.77 percent voter turnout for the fourth phase of the DDC polls.
There were seven women candidates in the fray, among them four contesting as independent candidates while the rest representing Peoples’ Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), Congress and Apni Party.
The PAGD has fielded a PDP candidate, the daughter of its former Zonal President, Ghulam Hassan.
The contest is likely to be interesting as the all the contestants had carried a vigorous door-to-door campaign to woo the voters. In the past, the voters in this DDC constituency used to vote for PDP candidates. However, with the fielding of Apni Party and independent candidates, the contest may throw a surprise.
The voters here believe that the all the contesting candidates are new faces and well qualified and want to do something better for the area.
“All the candidates have shown their strong desire to work for the betterment of the area. Since they all are new, we hope they will come up with ideas of development and prosperity,” said Farooq Ahmad, a voter.
The voters here believe that the party affiliation would play an important role in the winning prospect of the candidate. However, the participation of too many independent candidates from the same area would divide the votes which would make the winning margin of a candidate thin.
The voters here said that despite the area being close to the Baramulla town, it had not witnessed comprehensive development.
“If the government connects the area via Kandi belt to Gulmarg through Narwav, it will play an important role in the prosperity and development of the region,” said another voter Farooq Ahmad.