By-elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kahsmir, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Jharkhand and NCT of Delhi were conducted on Sunday, April 9, with violence marring the polling process in several places.
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Possibly the worst-affected was Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, where the voter turnout was only 6.5 percent – the worst in 30 years. Also, violence in Budgam resulted in six deaths. Meanwhile, voting was brisk but not uneventful in other parts of the country, like MP and Karnataka.
In Jammu and Kashmir
There had been intelligence inputs of impending violence in Jammu and Kashmir on the day of polling in Srinagar for quite some time, as a result of which internet connectivity was suspended in Srinagar on Sunday. However, that did not stop the violence, with Election Commission (EC) sources saying there were 200 untoward incidents during the Srinagar by-elections. By the end of the day, the voter turnout had been only 6.5 percent – the worst in three decades.
The situation was worse in Budgam, where protests led to violence in some areas. Security forces had to resort to firing in some places, leading to the death of at least six protesters. Separatists have called for a two-day shutdown in protest against the deaths. J&K is to see yet another by-election – in Anantnag – on April 12.
In Delhi and elsewhere
The Assembly elections at Rajouri Garden were mostly peaceful, but only 35 percent of the total electorate of 1.6 lakh came out to vote. The seat had fallen vacant after its AAP representative resigned to fight in the Punjab Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, Bhind in MP was on the boil, with incidents of booth-capturing reported in some places. A vehicle belonging to the Congress candidate in the by-election was also vandalised. The Congress blamed BJP supporters for this incident and two of its men being beaten and a booth capture incident.
Karnataka saw slightly better polling, with 44.98 percent voter turnout recorded at Nanjangud and 44.04 percent in Gundlupet. Around 600 voters in the Mahadevanapura village in Nanjangud boycotted voting, alleging that they had no basic facilities, like houses and drinking water. Congress and BJP workers rushed to the spot to convince them to vote, but to no avail.
