Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, Dec 13: As the District Development Council elections in Jammu and Kashmir have entered into a decisive stage with two more phases left, people are keeping their fingers crossed and are trying to guess who will be the winner.
Soon after the DDC polls commenced the State Election Commissioner K K Sharma announced that no exit polls will be held till all the eight phases are completed. Till now no attempt has been made by any of the agencies to project which party is having an upper hand.
An analyst while talking to Precious Kashmir said, “The ongoing DDC elections are important as these were the maiden elections in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370. The results of these polls will set the tone and tenor for the democratic exercises that will be held in coming days.”
He said, “People coming out in large numbers to take part in the ongoing DDC polls is an indication that the competition between the contestants is stiff. So it means that winning these elections is not going to be a cakewalk for anyone.”
A politician said that Kashmir based parties forming Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) and contesting the ongoing polls collectively have made these elections very interesting. “Even after the end of six phases picture about who has got the upper hand hasn’t become clear as the competition seems tough,” he added.
He said that PAGD has had its own share of problems as sharp differences had cropped up between the partners over seat sharing arrangement
On Saturday senior Congress leader from Jammu region Ravinder Sharma accused National Conference of violating seat sharing agreement in Rajouri district. Earlier the PDP leader Ghulam Nabi Hanjura had leveled similar allegations. “Despite facing storms the PAGD has managed to keep its flock together and is hoping that it would be able to make an impact,” said an analyst.
An observer said, “We can’t predict who will win these DDC elections but one thing looks sure that the PAGD candidates are putting up a tough fight.”
He said soon after the differences over seat sharing arrangement emerged the voices within the PAGD had become shriller to contest the elections individually. “But the leadership prevailed and didn’t allow the situation to take an ugly turn,” the observer said, adding that “Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too is trying to woo the voters and the reports suggest that the party is doing well in Jammu region, but in Kashmir PAGD is doing well.”
