Srinagar: As voting is set to be held in the Srinagar parliamentary segment on Monday in the fourth phase, the Election Commission of India has made elaborate arrangements for smooth polling even as there is no boycott call from separatists. On the Srinagar seat, 24 candidates are in the fray, and the major contest is between National Conference and People's Democratic Party candidates, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi and Waheed Para. Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party has fielded former minister Ashraf Mir.
The chief electoral officer, PK Pole, said that 17,47,810 lakh voters have been enrolled in the Srinagar parliamentary segment that spreads from the Shopian Assembly segment in South Kashmir to the Kagan constituency in central Kashmir comprising 18 Assembly segments. Of these voters, 8,75,938 are men while 8,71,808 are female voters besides 64 third gender. In all, 11,682 persons with disability and 705 persons above the age of 100 years will also be exercising their franchise.
Pole said that 2,135 polling stations have been set up in the fourth phase across five districts of Srinagar, Pulwama, Budgam, Ganderbal and Shopian. "The election staff, including presiding officers, will be stationed in every polling station. In total, more than 85,00 polling staff will be deployed on duty on the polling day. Voting will start at 7 am and ends at 6 pm," he said.
Additionally, 26 special polling stations have been established for migrant voters of the Kashmir Division in Jammu. Of these, 21 polling stations have been set up in Jammu, four in Delhi and one in Udhampur district. This will be the first major election after the abrogation of Article 370. Interestingly, no separatist group has called for a boycott of the polls as the leaders have been jailed since 2018.
Hurriyat Conference chairman Miriwaz Umar Farooq, the only separatist, who is free has not called for a boycott of the elections, saying "boycott won't serve any purpose on changing political situation". Elaborate security arrangements have been made in the Srinagar parliamentary segment with the police and paramilitary forces deployed across the constituency and inside polling stations.
"All the security arrangements have been put in place. Police and paramilitary forces will be deployed for smooth and peaceful voting," Kashmir Zone Inspector General of Police Vidhi Kumar Birdi, said. The security establishment has been alerted in the Srinagar segment. However, during campaigning no untoward incident has occurred and this is a major breather for the security grid to conduct smooth elections.
