Voters said they want to ensure a victory for their candidates because they want to see local issues getting resolved. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
Voters had started arriving at the polling station at the boys middle school in Inderkote village of Sumbal Municipal Committee from before sunrise. By 9 am, there were already long queues. By evening, when the state election office released figures, Sumbal town in Bandipore had recorded the highest turnout in the Valley at 35.6 percent. “There was a sea of people,” said an election official at Inderkote Sonburn, the polling station for three out of Sumbal’s 11 wards.
Of 7,910 registered voters, 2,834 votes were polled. Waiting in line with a group of people from nearby Bon Mohalla, one villager said, “The village primary school has required an upgrade. Our children have to go to the next village to attend middle school… Our candidate has promised that he will get it upgraded — this is why we are voting.”
Inderkote and surrounding villages also have a number of Shia voters, and Shabir Ahmad, the Independent candidate from ward 9 of Sumbal municipal committee, explained that as another reason for the sizeable turnout. “People from my community (Shia) are coming since morning to vote for me,” he said.
Outside the polling station, a group of people had gathered at a small playground. Following the separatist boycott call, they didn’t vote but were keen to keep an eye on what was happening. “These polls are meaningless,” said Gulzar Ahmad, a local resident. “I didn’t vote because it is not going to help solve any issue.”
A short distance away, more than 500 votes had been cast by 11 am at Government Degree College of Sumbal, and many more were waiting. The college hosted polling stations for five wards.
Voters said they want to ensure a victory for their candidates because they want to see local issues getting resolved. “We expected our MLA to resolve many problems, but the problems still exist,” said an Arampora village resident.
The media was not allowed inside polling stations of Sumbal. A senior police officer told The Indian Express that voters had, earlier in the morning, objected to the presence of media at the polling booth.