LIVE | 63% turnout in LS polls phase 4; Bengal tops with 76% amid violence

At the gates of polling centres in the south Kashmir district of Pulwama, infamous for terrorism and stone-pelting, enthusiastic voters queued up on Monday to exercise their franchise with a sense of ease in the absence of a separatist-sponsored boycott call and fear of violence.

“We have had enough. We want change. Vote is our biggest weapon. It is a powerful weapon which will help us find solutions to our problems. Vote is our right,” Shakeel Ahmad Para, a voter at a polling booth in Pulwama.

Polling in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency is being held in the fourth round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections.

At another polling station in Tahab, an elderly person who did not wish to be named, said he was voting for the first time in his life.

“This is for the first time I am voting. Previously, we stayed away from the exercise as we had no benefit. This time, we have our own candidate,” he said referring to PDP’s Srinagar candidate Waheed Para.

The enthusiasm to vote for the PDP youth leader was visible as men and women — young and old alike — came in droves to vote at their designated polling stations.

Para is pitted against NC’s influential Shia leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and Apni Party’s Ashraf Mir.

There are a total of 24 candidates in the fray for the constituency, which was redrawn after the delimitation exercise was undertaken recently.

At the polling station in Government Girls Model Higher Secondary School Naira, located in Para’s neighbourhood, voters lined up early in the morning, most foregoing breakfast, to cast their ballots.

Abdul Razak, who was among the first few voters at the polling booth, said they want to send an honest voice to Parliament.

“We want to elect a young and an intelligent, honest person who understands the problems of the local people and will work for their betterment, especially, of the youth,” he said.

Razak said it is for the first time that the voters here have got an opportunity to send a young voice to Parliament.

“We understand his (Waheed Para) ideology and vision. I appeal to the people to vote. If we do not vote today, it is our loss. We haven’t been able to raise our voice for a long time. It’s an opportunity to send someone as our voice to Parliament,” he said.

For the past many years, the elections in this district have been marred by terrorism-related violence, instances of stone pelting and boycott calls by separatist groups. Notably, the heads of several terrorism groups, including Burhan Wani, Reyaz Naikoo, and Zakir Musa, also belonged to this district.

This time around there has been no election boycott call in the area as yet and voters say they are also seeing an improvement in the security situation.

This, combined with Para’s candidacy, is expected to result in a higher voter turnout in the Lok Sabha election.

Another first-time voter, Ghulam Mohiddin Ganie, said that boycott serves no purpose now.

“We used to boycott (elections). But now, the situation is such that we are facing onslaught on many fronts and so the boycott and stone pelting will not work. Our sufferings will ease only when we elect our representative and he raises our issues in Parliament,” Ganie said.

However, the PDP candidate, who cast his vote at Naria, claimed that slow voting was taking place “deliberately”.

“There is an effort to subvert the election process. Attempts are being made to discourage voters and disturb them on many pretexts. There are some officials within the system who are doing that,” Para said.

Sporadic incidents of violence marred the fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls in the eight parliamentary constituencies of West Bengal on Monday as TMC and BJP workers clashed in various parts of violence-hit Birbhum and Bardhaman-Durgapur seats.

Although the poll panel claimed that voting has been peaceful so far, it said it had received 1,088 complaints from different political parties alleging EVM malfunctioning and agents being stopped from entering booths.

Clashes broke out between supporters of TMC and BJP in Monteswar's Susunia area of Bardhaman-Durgapur Lok Sabha seat around noon, as BJP candidate Dilip Ghosh was on his way to a polling booth following complaints of booth jamming.

As Ghosh was on his way, TMC supporters blocked his convoy and squatted in front of his vehicle, starting a protest against him.

Stones were hurled at his convoy, following which some of the cars of the security personnel tailing his convoy were damaged. Ghosh was also heckled by the TMC activists, sources claimed.

“Police are just mute spectators. The TMC has let loose a reign of terror. Since morning, TMC goons have beaten up our polling agents and are not allowing polling to be free and fair,” Ghosh told reporters.

The TMC, however, denied the charges and claimed Ghosh was "trying to vitiate the atmosphere sensing defeat." In Durgapur area of the same constituency, clashes broke out between the TMC and the BJP, following which saffron activists staged a sit-in.

In Birbhum Lok Sabha constituency, BJP workers clashed with TMC activists in Nanoor after saffron party polling agents were allegedly stopped from entering booths.

Tension prevailed in Chapra area of Krishnanagar constituency as BJP workers were allegedly beaten by TMC workers. Amrita Roy, BJP candidate of Krishnanagar, accompanied two injured persons, Nanda Das and Sukhen Das, to Chapra police station. The TMC has denied the allegations.

The TMC, BJP, and Congress-CPI (M) alliance lodged complaints respectively related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents in the first few hours of polling, sources from both parties said.

In some areas, TMC workers staged a protest following allegations that central forces were assisting BJP workers in intimidating voters at some booths of Birbhum.

A voter turnout of 51 per cent was registered in eight Lok Sabha constituencies of West Bengal till 1pm on Monday, an Election Commission official said.