From power woes to Centre’s remote control, what brought people out to vote for J-K phase 2

At Kangan, Mian Mehar Ali is contesting as a fourth generation politician for the National Conference. His father, Mian Altaf, was elected to the Parliament from the Anantang-Rajouri seat in June. A Gujjar pir, “Mian sahab”, as he locally called, holds significant sway in the area owing to his status as a sufi pir. Mehar Ali’s competitor from this reserved (ST) seat is PDP candidate Syed Jamat Ali Shah.

The constituency has historically recorded high voter turnout owing to its sizeable Gujjar population. On Wednesday, Mohammad Sarfaraz Khatana cast his vote at the local boys’ high school at Hariganiwan. “Claims of grassroots democracy did not work. The sarpanches, the DDCs never had the power to get our work done. Only an elected MLA can do that,” he said.

A group of foreign diplomats outside a polling station in Dal lake, Srinagar. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)

He also rued the limited power supply and its high cost in the upper reaches of the area: “Earlier I paid just over Rs 100 for the three hours of electricity that we would receive. Now it is Rs 1,000. There is no income; how will I pay?”

Many in the queue said they are daily wagers who work in the fields during harvest, or in the city.

At a polling booth at the Panchayat ghar at Kangan, a 21-year-old Khalid Rasheed said his vote is “an expression of the fact that I do not accept the changes of August 5, 2019”. A political science student, Rasheed said, “We have had lockdown after lockdown since 2019. It disrupted my education. Politicians may be our only choice because this rule by the Centre, through an LG, is unacceptable.”

At Ganderbal, where National Conference vice-president and former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah is the key candidate, a retired Range officer spoke of similar “difficulties” witnessed over years of “bureaucratic rule”. He said that the “lack of accountability in the administration hurts the local population”, and displayed the indelible ink on his finger as a “mark of citizen duty”.

“There are dozens of issues of daily life that require urgent redressal. One of the first things is the high cost of electricity. There are no meters but the stock fee now is Rs 1,500 in my area,” he said, “Then there is the issue of 5 kg of rice (as ration card allowance). If a family has eight members, how will this ever be enough? We need an elected MLA because we can demand accountability from them.”

In Dadrien area in the same district, where paddy harvest is at its peak, voters trickled into the two-room panchayat office. “People are busy, but we have to vote as I see so many young people wasting their lives because there’s no work. If we elect the right candidate, we would at least have sunwayi (a hearing),” Amina, a voter in the village, said.

She said she voted for the first time in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year and was glad to have the chance to vote again.

At least 14 candidates are challenging Omar Abdullah in Ganderbal, the Abdullah’s family bastion.