Geelani’s ancestral village in Sopore boycotts polls, records 0.9% voting

Sopore: Keeping with its tradition, senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Geelani’s hometown Duroo village in north Kashmir’s Sopore area boycotted the District Development Council (DDC) polls on Tuesday by recording a meagre 0.9 per cent voting, KNO reported.

However, scenes were slightly different in the broader Zaingeer area of Baramulla district where hundreds of voters turned up to for voting.

Duroo village, which is Geelani’s hometown, witnessed almost zero per cent voting. The village recorded only 15 votes out of 1600 registered voters.

Pertinently, Geelani had recently called for a boycott of the ongoing DDC elections through his Pak-based representative, Abdullah Gilani.

On the contrary, Dangerpora, Watlab, Warpora, Hathlangoo witnessed brisk voting.

Many voters told KNO that though they know participating in elections have no bearing on the resolution of Kashmir issue, they have voted only with a hope that it will bring ‘development’ to their areas.

Many voters also said that keeping Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay was their sole reason for taking part in the elections.

“There has been a lot of injustice with us so far. We don’t want to suffer any further,” they said.

A total of 15 candidates were in the fray in the second phase of the polls. 10 candidates were fighting for Sarpanch seat and five for Panch seat in Zaingeer belt.

Meanwhile, police officials said that all the necessary security arrangements were put in place for the smooth conduct of elections. (KNO)