Within minutes after the beginning of the voting for the Srinagar Lok Sabha elections, National Conference leadership charged authorities with harassing party workers and polling agents on the eve of the elections.
"I failed to understand why our workers and polling agents were selectively targetted and harassed on the eve of the polling", former chief minister and vice president of the National Conference Omar Abdullah said.
He further alleged that some fear-stricken polling agents of the National Conference spent nights in their vehicles or in the houses of their relatives to avoid police harassment.
"In our representation to the Election Commission of India we have forwarded names of the workers and details of police stations where they were called without any reason", he said, adding,
"The list provided by the National Conference to the Election Commission of India is not exhaustive but indicative. We are not making vague allegations like other groups".
Echoing allegations of Omar Abdullah, the National Conference president and former chief minister Dr. Farooq Abdullah appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to look into the matter.
"They are selectively targetting our workers because authorities are afraid that proxies of BJP are going to lose the elections", he said and exuded confidence that the NC will easily win all the three Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir Valley.
Three generations of Abdullahs jointly cast votes
Omar Abdullah, however, said that he is happy that polling is going smoothly in different areas of the Srinagar Parliamentary constituency.
While pointing toward his father Dr. Farooq Abdullah and his sons Zamir Abdullah and Zahir Abdullah, Omar said that first time three generations of the Abdullah family are casting their votes.
The joy on the face of our #FirstTimeVoter, Chaudary Shabir, Brenpathri, Tral Pulwama says it all.#KashmirGoesToPoll @ceo_UTJK @basharatias_dr @diprjk @ECISVEEP @SpokespersonECI @srinagaradmin @ddnews_jammu @airnewsalerts pic.twitter.com/yeJR5mPIWn
— Deputy Commissioner Pulwama (@dcpulwama) May 13, 2024
Amit tight security voting begins in Srinagar Parliamentary constituency
Meanwhile, amid unprecedented security voting commenced in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election in Kashmir's Srinagar constituency on Monday, with 17.48 lakh voters eligible to decide among 24 candidates.
The polling began at 7 am at 2,135 polling stations across the constituency
Security arrangements were tight, with a multi-layer security blanket thrown around polling stations, distribution centers, and strong rooms across the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, which includes entire districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Pulwama, and parts of Budgam and Shopian districts.
The voter turnout in the redrawn Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, following the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022, will be closely watched, as most areas had previously witnessed low polling percentages due to boycott calls given by separatists.
A total of 17,47,810 voters have been enrolled in phase IV, including 8,75,938 men, 8,71,808 women, and 64 third-gender voters. There are around 11,682 persons with disabilities and 705 voters above the age of 100 years.
As many as 2,135 polling stations have been set up across Srinagar, Ganderbal, Pulwama, and parts of Budgam and Shopian districts, with 26 special polling stations for migrant voters of Kashmir Division, 21 in Jammu, four in Delhi, and one in Udhampur District.
