Polling underway for last phase of municipal polls in Jammu and Kashmir
Srinagar, Oct 16 : Polling was underway for the fourth and last phase of municipal elections in Jammu and Kashmir to seal the fate of 156 candidates in fray in Srinagar and Ganderbal districts.
Polling began at 6 am amidst stringent security arrangements, officials said. They said the voting will take place at 308 polling stations across the state and would end at 4 pm.
Eight municipal bodies spanning across six districts - all in Kashmir Valley were scheduled to go to polls in the fourth and final phase of the elections. However, out of the eight, only two will see voting, while there will be no contest in the rest of the six bodies.
The rest of the bodies 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 will see no voting either because the candidates won unopposed or no nominations were submitted.
The officials said 156 candidates are in the fray for 37 wards of two urban local bodies for the fourth phase comprising a total electorate of 250794 electors.
They said 12 wards are going to polls in Municipal Committee Ganderbal with a total electorate of 8,491 voters where 38 candidates are in the fray and voting will take place at 12 polling stations.
For 24 wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) with a total electorate of 241043, 113 candidates are in the fray and 295 polling stations have been established for the purpose, the officials said.
They said repoll is taking place at Polling Station number nine - Bachidarwaza of Makhdoom Sahab (ward number 41) - where five candidates are in the fray with a total electorate of 1,260.
The officials said massive security arrangements have been put in place for the smooth conduct of the polls.
Municipal elections, covering 79 municipal bodies with an electorate of about 17 lakh, are being held in four phases. A total of 3,372 nominations have been filed for 1,145 wards.
National Conference, along with PDP and CPI(M), have boycotted the polls due to the legal challenge to Article 35A of the Constitution in the Supreme Court.
The voter turnout in the first two phases of the civic polls in the valley has been low. While 8.3 per cent of the electorate turned up to vote in the 83 wards in the first phase on October 8, the poll percentage fell to an abysmal 3.4 per cent in the second phase held on 10 October. The third phase of polling for civic bodies in Kashmir 13 October witnessed a low turnout of just 3.49 per cent, in line with the trend set in first two phases.
The government has declared holiday on the day of poll in the municipal areas going to polls so as to enable the voters to cast their vote.
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Kulkarni became victim of BJP conspiracy as he grew politically in North Karnataka: Shivakumar
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Bengaluru (PTI): Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar claimed on Friday that Congress MLA Vinay Kulkarni, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case, has become a victim of a BJP conspiracy because he was growing politically in the north Karnataka region.
Stating that he has faith in Kulkarni and believes he has done nothing wrong, he said the former minister will fight the case legally by filing an appeal.
A Bengaluru court on Friday sentenced Kulkarni and fifteen others to life imprisonment in the BJP leader Yogeshgouda Goudar murder case.
On Wednesday, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, Judge of the Special Court for cases involving elected representatives, convicted Kulkarni and others under various IPC sections, including criminal conspiracy and murder.
“I respect the court. But there was a big conspiracy in this case. When the police were about to file a B-report, the CBI was given the case to harass him (Kulkarni). Vinay Kulkarni has become a victim of a BJP conspiracy as he was growing politically in north Karnataka,” Shivakumar said.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, he said Kulkarni has several legal options.
“I have spoken to his family. He swore on God and told me that he had not done anything wrong. I still have faith in him. I feel that he has not done anything wrong. He has an opportunity to file an appeal,” he said, adding that he stands with Kulkarni’s family and supporters and believes he will get justice.
The case pertains to the killing of Goudar, a BJP zilla panchayat member, in Dharwad on June 15, 2016. Kulkarni was a minister at the time. Hired assailants allegedly attacked and hacked Goudar to death in his gym in Saptapur, Dharwad.
Following demands from Goudar’s family and others, the then-BJP government transferred the case to the CBI in 2019.
Veteran BJP leader and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, under whose tenure the case was handed over to the CBI, told reporters in Chikkamagaluru, “I said what I needed to say when the crime happened, and what I said—that the guilty should be punished and justice should be served—has proven true.”
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, BJP leader and MLC C T Ravi, reacting to the court order, said, “Justice delayed, but not denied.”
