Jammu and Kashmir municipal polls HIGHLIGHTS: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the Jammu Municipal Corporation polls while Independent candidates won majority number of seats in the Srinagar Municipal Corporation. Counting took place at Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC).
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Of the 74 wards in the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Independent candidates won 49 seats, Congress got 12 seats, BJP secured four seats, while in one ward no votes were polled and 8 seats remained uncontested. In the 75-seat Jammu Municipal Corporation polls, the BJP secured 43 seats, Congress won 14 while Independent candidates got 18 seats.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) which has emerged as the single largest party of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) in a quote to PTI said that they were ready to join hands with ‘secular-minded’ winning candidates or groups to form the new municipal body. “I would appeal all the winning candidates who have secular ideology and believe in this mission of not having a communal (forces) backed committee or mayor at least in Srinagar (Municipal Corporation). We are ready to go with or take along any group which comes forward to stop communal forces,” JKPCC president Ghulam Ahmad Mir told reporters in Srinagar.
Election to the urban local body polls was held in four phases from October 8 to October 16. There are over 3,000 candidates who contested the 1,145 wards across the state. In Kashmir, which has 598 wards, at least 231 candidates were elected unopposed while no candidates contested in 181 wards. Three seats have been declared so far.
Also read | Given the way it was conducted, local bodies poll in Kashmir cannot be seen as representative or democratic
The voter turnout in the polls was low, with 8.3 per cent votes cast in the first phase on October 8, 3.4 per cent in the second phase on October 10, 3.49 per cent in the third phase on October 13 and 4.2 per cent in the last phase on October 16. The overall percentage was 35.1 per cent. During voting, there were no signs of any electioneering in the run up to the polls as militant outfits had threatened to target those taking part in the elections, while separatist groups including the Hurriyat Conference boycotted the elections. Read less
The elections in the Valley are seen as a battle between the BJP and Congress after regional parties like the National Conference (NC) and the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decided against contesting the polls.
The last urban local bodies polls conducted in the state was in 2005.
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Independent candidates got a lion's share of seats in the urban local body polls in J&K, especially in Muslim-dominated districts of Jammu, winning as many as 185 wards out of 521 spread across the region. The independents have an edge over the BJP and the Congress in over a dozen municipal bodies, officials said.
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BJP has won 100 seats (24 contested and 76 uncontested), Congress has won 157 seats (79 contested and 78 uncontested) and Independent candidates have won 178 seats (103 contested and 75 uncontested). Indian National Congress (INC) has won all 13 wards of Leh Municipal Committee. (ANI)
Having emerged as the single largest party in the civic polls the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) said that it is raedy to join hands with "secular-minded" winning candidates or groups to form the new body of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). In the 74-ward body, Independents have won as many as 27 seats among the results declared so far.
"I would appeal all the winning candidates who have secular ideology and believe in this mission of not having a communal (forces)-backed committee or mayor at least in Srinagar (Municipal Corporation). We are ready to go with or take along any group which comes forward to stop communal forces," JKPCC president Ghulam Ahmad Mir told reporters in Srinagar. (PTI)
In Jammu Municipal Board there are 75 wards and BJP won 43 seats, Indian National Congress won 14 seats and Independent candidates won 18 seats. In municipal committees there are 7 wards of them BJP has won 2 seats, INC has won 4 seats and Independent candidate won 1 seat, the Election Commission was quoted as saying by ANI.
Srinagar Municipal Corporation counting for 49 wards, Independents win 33 seats, 11seats to Congress and BJP secures 4 seats.
The BJP was in for a surprise on Saturday when the results of the urban local body elections started pouring in. The party found itself pitted against Independents and not Congress at most places across Jammu region. The PDP and National Conference had called for a boycott of the elections. Read more here
In the 208 wards that went to polls in Kashmir division of the four-phased elections, the Congress has won 70 wards so far followed by 53 wards by Independents. The BJP has managed to win only 21 seats, while the Janata Dal (United) bagged one seat, the officials said. (PTI)
The BJP failed to open its account in Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh region in the urban local body elections held earlier this month. Out of the total 26 wards in this region, the Congress bagged all the 13 seats in Leh municipal committee. It also won five wards in neighbouring Kargil district, according to election officials. Six seats in the region have gone to Independent candidates, while the result of only two seats is awaited, they said.
At the end of counting for the second phase in Srinagar Municipal Corporation polls, Independents won 13 seats, Congress 8 and BJP 3.
The results of 94 wards of south Kashmir have been declared so far in which the Congress has managed to win 28 seats. The party, thus, will have control of at least three municipal bodies. Independents bagged 13 seats in the polls. The counting of votes of Anantnag and Mattan -- the other two civic bodies in south Kashmir -- is going on and the results are expected later Saturday.
In Chenab Valley region, BJP has been routed by Independents. In Doda municipal committee, Independents won in 11 wards, followed by BJP and Congress (three each). Similarly, all the six seats in Thathri municipal committee were bagged by Congress and Independents (three each). In Bhaderwah, Congress won in six wards, followed by independents (4) and BJP (3).
In Jammu Municipal Corporation, of the 75 wards, results of 51 places have been declared so far with BJP winning at 31 places, followed by Independents (13) and Congress (8). The brother of BJP’s former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta was among those having lost the election to independents.
(Express photos by Shuaib Masoodi)
Congress candidate Gulshan Bilal has won Ward 34, Syed Ali Akbar in Srinagar. A Bemina East Congress candidate Shameema Khan bagged Ward 26. Two independent candidates, Neelofar Khan won Ward 25 in Qamarwari, Srinagar and Muzaffar Ahmad won Ward 27 with 119 votes. Ghulam Rasool Hajan won Ward 30 from Zainakote
Congress bags 12 of the 17 wards in Bandipore, while BJP bags three wards, according to our correspondent at site. BJP is set to lead municipal committees in Watergam, North Kashmir and Pahalgam, South Kashmir.
BJP's Bashir Ahmad Mir has won from Srinagar, Congress' Naziya Yousuf from Humhama, Srinagar and Zahoor Hussain Rather from Hamdaniya colony. Mir won 8 of the 9 votes polled, Yousuf won 41 of the 56 votes polled and Rather won 764.
Bashir Ahmad Mir, BJP candidate, won from Srinagar. (Express photo)
Eight municipal bodies spread across six districts — all in Kashmir Valley – were scheduled to go to polls on October 16 but only two saw voting as there was no contest in the remaining six. No voting took place in Pattan in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, Pampore, Pulwama and Khrew in Pulwama district in south, Shopian Municipal Committee in Shopian district in south and Dooru Verinag in Anantnag district also in south Kashmir. Read more| Final phase of voting in J&K urban civic body polls underway
Regional parties including the National Conference, along with PDP and CPI(M), boycotted the polls due to the legal challenge to Article 35A of the Constitution in the Supreme Court that guarantees special privileges to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the third phase, Jammu and Kashmir had a turnout of 3.5 per cent in the Valley — a marginal increase from 3.3 per cent in the second phase. An 81 per cent turnout was recorded in Jammu, where four municipal committees in Samba district went to polls.
Read more on the third phase of polls
At the end of the day, 186 of the 751 registered voters cast their votes. The turnout of 1.8 per cent in Srinagar was lower than 2.3 per cent in the second phase and 6.2 per cent in the first. While 72 of city’s 221 booths did not see any voter, the 12 wards of downtown Srinagar together accounted for 72.1 per cent of the total vote cast in Srinagar.
In the second phase, voting started at 6 am hoping a better voter turnout, however, the poll percentage dipped further in the Valley. By the end of day, the official figures showed only 3.3 per cent votes were cast in the Valley — down from 8.2 per cent in Monday’s first-phase voting. Read more on the second phase of voting
Sumbal in Bandipore at 35.6 per cent, recorded the highest voting in the Valley. The lowest turnout —1.1 per cent — was recorded in Anantnag Municipal Council. Of 160 wards, voting was held for 43. There were no candidates for 56 wards, and candidate on 61 wards were elected unopposed.
Jammu region recorded a turnout of nearly 70 per cent while the Valley logged just 8.2 per cent. The first of the four-phase polls saw voting in 17 cities and towns in the border districts of Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch, and eight districts of the Kashmir division, including Leh and Kargil and three wards of Srinagar. The Kashmir division recorded an overall turnout of 18.6 per cent. Read more on the first phase of polls
In Jammu district, the highest turnout of 89 per cent was witnessed in Jourian, followed by Gho Manasa (86.21), Bishnah (85.44), Khour (82.13), R S Pura (80.14), Akhnoor (80.49), Arnia (80.16) and Jammu Municipal Corporation (61.92).
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