SRINAGAR: The just-concluded urban local body polls in Kashmir recorded a poor voter turnout but it will perhaps be remembered for nearly 70 per cent of wards not witnessing any polling as there was no candidate at all or some of them winning unopposed.
According to data compiled by the election department of Jammu and Kashmir, out of 598 wards spanning across 40 municipal bodies in 10 districts of the valley, polling was held only in 186 wards.
The remaining 412 wards – constituting 68.89 per cent of the total – did not require any voting.
The government had made elaborate security arrangements to secure polling staff and polling stations but kept the identity of candidates, who dared to defy militant threats, a secret for security reasons.
As a result, there was no campaigning for these elections and in most cases the candidates chose to remain anonymous.
Over thirty per cent of wards in these 40 urban local bodies across Kashmir valley will remain unrepresented. PTI
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