Click to play videoPoonch: After almost two decades of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, democracy finally finds its feet in the state. Despite of heavy snowfall and boycott called by the separatists, 55 per cent voters were recorded to have cast their votes in the first phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir. This can be a precedent for the coming six phases in the state.
Polls were conducted in the Leh, Kargil, Poonch and Bandipore districts of the state with almost no incidents of violence in the first phase. Especially the young and the first time voters like 25-year-old Rubina from Bandipora who marched to the polling booth to exercise her franchise.
“I live in a far flung area. We cast out vote to a particular candidate who will solve our problems here and who will do well for our constituency," says Rubina.
The snowbound Gurez valley recorded 74 per cent polling and the two mountainous districts of Leh and Kargil saw nearly 60 per cent turnout. Even the separatist hotbeds of Bandipora and Sonawari witnessed just a few protests.
"There are 1066 polling stations which practically reported no violent incidents," says Deputy Election Commissioner R Bhattacharya.
Elections were also held in the three constituencies of the Poonch district in the Jammu region recording more than 60 per cent.
Even though Poonch saw communal clashes during Amarnath Yatra, the overall voter sentiment was un-affected and the polling crossed the 2002 election mark.
Out of 373 polling stations in the Jammu region 25 were right at the LOC. Unlike in the past, this election did not witness any cross border skirmishes and shelling.
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