Surfeit of elections puts off J&K voters

Ghulam Ahmed Mir’s family had been desperately knocking at the doors of officers in Srinagar to seek extension of his parole. Mir, a resident of Rajouri in Jammu, suffered a paralytic stroke two months ago in the district jail, where he was detained under the J&K’s Public Safety Act (equivalent of the National Security Act).

The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) government had recommended his release on parole, after which Mir was admitted to Delhi’s Apollo Hospital. “He showed some improvement but is still bed-ridden and needs to be looked after,” Maqbool, a family friend, said.

However, the officers in the J&K home department have refused to even look at Mir’s plea for extension of his parole. “They have turned us down saying that due to the model code of conduct, they cannot take any decision,” Maqbool said. Finally, the 68-year old Mir was recently shifted back to the jail in an ambulance.

Today, Mir’s family is praying for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections to be over in the state, which has seen so many elections recently, affecting the state administration.

First, it was the protracted seven-phase state Legislative Assembly elections last year, which was announced in mid-October and held in November-December. Now the five-phase Lok Sabha elections have taken its toll of the government’s functioning as well as peoples’ interest in voting. Analysts feel that this has triggered election weariness, which was apparent in lower voter turnout in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls as compared to the enthusiastic outpouring in the state assembly elections.

Anantnag recorded a 26 per cent turnout on Thursday.

Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami, state secretary of the CPI(M), told Business Standard that today’s lukewarm response of voters in Anantnag (about 26 per cent) was also due to the sowing season. “There is less enthusiasm for the Lok Sabha elections generally. But one thing is certain: that people’s indifference had nothing to do with the boycott call given by some people,” he said.

As compared to 62 per cent polling in the Assembly elections, the first and second phases of the Lok Sabha polls saw 48 per cent and 43 per cent turnout for the Jammu and Udhampur constituencies, respectively. The response of the state’s voters is the key to their bonding with the Indian democracy and is keenly watched by the world over.