Leh (J&K), May 13: The call for boycott of polls by
separatists did not have much effect in Ladakh parliamentary
constituency as voters thronged the 476 polling booths since
morning to exercise their franchise in the fifth and final
phase of elections.
An estimated 61 per cent of the 1.52 lakh electorate cast
their votes in the constituency, poll officials told
reporters.
While voters in Leh said they are voting for development
of the district, their counterparts in Kargil said they wanted
the reopening of the Kargil-Skardu road and friendship between
India and Pakistan.
"We have suffered a lot due to hostilities between India
and Pakistan. Since the ceasefire reached between the two
countries in 2003, we are doing our farming and business
unmindful of any danger," Mohammad Ayub said outside a
polling booth no 37 at Indoor Stadium Kargil.
Fatima Begum echoed the sentiments of her husband and
said, "We are voting for the candidate who will take up the
issue of reopening of Kargil-Skardu road as a number of our
family members are on the other side of the border."
Mohammad Amin, who cast his vote at Government Girls
Higher Secondary School Kargil, said he has exercised his
franchise with the hope that bonds of friendship between India
and Pakistan would further improve after the elections.
"We do not want the pre-2003 situation when there was
shelling from across the border and many people were killed
and wounded," he said.
Enthusiasm among women voters in both Leh and Kargil
districts was no less than their male counterparts. There are
74,499 women voters in the constituency out of 1,52,391.
At Government Middle School Skalzangling in Leh, out of
741 voters, 80 had cast their votes till 10.30 am, of whom 50
were women. Similarly at 71 polling booth, 110 voters cast
their votes in the same period of whom 60 were women.
Some polling booths recorded hundred per cent voting in
Leh district. At Thukje Gumpa polling booth all six voters
cast their votes within 30 minutes of commencement of polling.
In terms of area, Ladakh parliamentary constituency is
the largest, even as it has the least number of voters in the
state.
Bureau Report