Shopian: Shopian’s Kapran area set a record low in voter turnout with only 1.95 percent polling recorded in the DDC elections held here on Monday.
At some places people were not even aware that DDC elections were being held in the area. According to official figures only 158 votes were cast out of 8,079 registered voters in Kapran DDC constituency, where 48 polling booths were set up at seven different locations.
A local from Ayend-Rawalpora told Kashmir Reader that locals weren’t aware that DDC polling was going on in the village. He said that almost all the people in the area preferred to stay indoors in the cold weather.
An official, wishing not to be named, said that the “sensitiveness” of the area could be the reason why the authorities choose less locations for polling stations. He said that at Kapran village 11 polling booths were stationed just at one location.
The Kapran DDC constituency is reserved for women.
Arooja Jan, a first-time voter from Kachdora, said she voted for development and solution of the drinking water problem in the area.
An elderly voter from Kapran said that he has been voting for the past five decades but hasn’t seen anyone solving his problems. “Be it ration or any other scheme, people like me are being ignored and humiliated,” he said.
Streets and polling stations were seen deserted in the area when the elections were being held.

Raashid Hassan