A third of Jammu casts its votes

Jammu: A third of the voters in Jammu Lok Sabha constituency Thursday cast their ballot in the morning hours as more waited patiently for their turn at polling stations.During the first four hours since voting started here at 7 a.m., an average of 30 percent votes had been cast.As the temperature started to rise during the day, people in queues outside polling stations held newspapers and other articles over heads to protect themselves from the sun and the glare.None of the enthusiastic voters chose to break the queue as more and more of them poured out. Women voters joined the queues after finishing their household chores.Incidentally, union Health Minister and former state chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was Thursday asked to prove his identity at a polling booth.Azad went to cast his vote at the DPS polling station at Jogi Gate area, but was refused permission by the presiding officer who demanded his identity proof.The matter was later settled when a local Congress leader went to stand surety for Azad's identity.Bharatiya Janata Party leaders too said Azad is a senior national level leader and they did not dispute his identity.Azad is himself fighting the elections from Udhampur Lok Sabha seat although he is registered as voter in Jammu.Talking to media persons after casting his vote, Azad said: "The BJP has lost all hope and in frustration they are raking up issues like the abrogation of Article 370, Ram Mandir etc.""The Congress-NC coalition in J&K will win all the six seats from here."There was a clash between supporters of the regional Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and those of the National Conference outside a polling station in Gursai village in Mendhar area of Poonch district.Polling was largely peaceful at all other places in Jammu constituency.The election authorities said 2,274 polling stations have been set up for the day's poll."Originally, we had set up 2271 polling stations, but keeping in view the voter numbers, we added three more polling stations to ensure smooth polling in the constituency," said a poll official here.When voting started, EVMs (electronic voting machines) at over a dozen polling stations turned out to be faulty.These EVMs were rectified by the poll staff and voters were allowed to cast their votes.At Karalian polling station, most people said they were voting against corruption, price rise and fulfilment of promises made but not kept for ages.Residents of Karalian village say whenever there is a violation of bilateral ceasefire agreement by Pakistan, this village has to pay heavily."Our crops get destroyed, cattle are not fed and children have to bunk schools. We need a prime minister who can ensure that life goes on without fear of the enemy," Nanak Chand, 45, told IANS.There are 19 candidates in the fray here, but the main contest is between the BJP's Jugal Kishore, the Congress'se Madan Lal Sharma and Yash Pal Sharma of the PDP.The ruling National Conference (NC), which is fighting elections in alliance with the Congress, supports Madan Lal Sharma who is seeking re-election for the third time from here.Voting ends at 6 p.m.