New Delhi: In the fourth phase of polling on Sunday, while voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir dipped to 49 per cent as compared with the earlier three phases, Jharkhand recorded a relatively decent turnout with 61 per cent voting in the Naxal-affected constituencies. The voting in the two states was by and large peaceful.
In Jammu and Kashmir, an FIR was registered against the BJP's Shopian candidate for thrashing a voter. In another embarrassing incident for the BJP, the party's poster girl in Kashmir valley and Amria Kadal candidate Hina Bhat allegedly slapped an on-duty polling officer in uptown Chanapora. However, no FIR was registered in this incident.
Voting took place in 15 seats in Jharkhand and 18 seats in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. There are over 14.73 lakh voters including 7.05 lakh females at 1,890 polling stations in four districts of Jammu and Kashmir - Srinagar, Anantnag, Shopian and Samba.
The 15 constituencies that went to polls in Jharkhand are Madhupur, Deogarh, Bagodar, Jamua, Gandey, Giridih, Dumri, Bokaro, Chandankyari, Sindri, Nirsa, Dhanbad, Jharia, Tundi and Baghmara. Voting on 13 seats began at 7 am and took place till 3 pm, but it continued in the two constituencies of Dhanbad and Bokaro till 5 pm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a message in the morning, had urged "friends" across Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand to vote in large numbers in the fourth phase. "I urge all friends across J&K and Jharkhand voting today in the 4th phase of the Vidhan Sabha elections to vote in large numbers," he said in a tweet.
Polling was slow in Jammu & Kashmir with only 10.27 per cent votes registering till 10 am. The final figure stood at 49 per cent for Jammu and Kashmir and 61 per cent for Jharkhand.
In Jammu and Kashmir, an FIR has been registered against the BJP candidate from Shopian Javed Aahmad Qadri who got into a brawl with a voter in Srinagar. Qadri allegedly thrashed the voter inside a polling station in Jammu and Kashmir.
Qadri thrashed an unidentified person in presence of the polling staff inside the polling station at Moochwad in south Kashmir claiming that he had entered the booth without the vote slip. However, justifying his actions, Qadri accused the PDP and NC workers of committing malpractices in the elections.
Amria Kadal candidate Hina Bhat allegedly slapped an on-duty polling officer in uptown Chanapora. Sources said Hina entered into a heated argument with the polling staff at a polling station in Chanapora in Amriakadal constituency, from where she is trying her luck, and allegedly slapped an on-duty officer.
Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, Chief Minister and NC working president Omar Abdullah said, "The BJP candidate in Srinagar who earlier threatened to pick up a gun over Art 370 now slaps a polling officer. Well done."
However, Srinagar district election officer Farooq Ahmad Bhat, said, "There was an altercation between the candidate and some polling staff but the issue has been resolved and the candidate has left the polling station."
Sources said that Hina, who is daughter of Mohammad Shafi Bhat, who represented the Amira Kadal constituency in 1996 and became MP from Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency on National Conference ticket, had to face wrath of ruling NC workers who witnessed the alleged assault on the polling officer.
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