Month: September 2024

Bengaluru (TIP)- The Karnataka Lokayukta on Friday filed a first information report (FIR) against chief minister Siddaramaiah, his wife BM Parvathi and brother-in-law Mallikarjuna Swamy in connection with a land allotment case, compounding the problems for the embattled Congress leader who swept to power last year on an anti-corruption campaign.
The case involves allegations of irregularities in land allotted to Siddaramaiah’s wife, Parvathi, by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (Muda). It came on a day Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge rallied behind Siddaramaiah amid mounting calls for the CM’s ouster. “The FIR was filed following a direction to the Lokayukta by the special court in Bengaluru,” said TJ Udesh, superintendent of Lokayukta Police in Mysuru, confirming the FIR, a copy of which is with HT. Siddaramaiah was named as the primary accused, followed by his wife Parvathi as the second accused, and Mallikarjuna Swamy as the third. Devaraju, who sold the land to Swamy, was listed as the fourth accused, along with “others”. The FIR invoked Section 120B (criminal conspiracy), Section 166 (disobeying the law with intent to cause injury), Section 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), Section 406 (criminal breach of trust), and Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. It also included charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, and the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act. Siddaramaiah is the second sitting chief minister of Karnataka to face an FIR.
The Karnataka Lokayukta, founded in 1984, serves as the watchdog to address corruption and public complaints against state officials. Initially seen as a powerful entity in tackling corruption, its authority to investigate was taken away in 2016 and given to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), an agency controlled by the CM’s office. However, in 2022, the Karnataka high court disbanded the ACB and reinstated the Lokayukta’s authority, transferring all active cases back to it.
The CM denied any wrongdoing and dismissed calls for his resignation, attributing the case to political moves orchestrated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “Why should I tender my resignation? You have to tender a resignation only if you have done something wrong, right? When I have not done anything wrong,” he said, addressing reporters at Mysuru airport. Kharge and the Congress rallied behind him. “Their [BJP’s] main aim is to defame the Congress. there is no question of him resigning,” Kharge said.
The Opposition in the state criticised his refusal to resign. “If Siddaramaiah continues to argue, why should I resign even after all this?, it would render his 40 years of political life meaningless. I believe he wouldn’t want to sink further in the eyes of the people, losing the remaining respect he has,” said senior BJP leader R Ashoka.
The controversy revolves around land acquisition and compensation in Mysuru’s Devanur 3rd stage layout. The disputed land is a 3.16 acre plot, which Siddaramaiah says was gifted to Parvathi by Mallikarjuna, in 1998.
In 2014, when Siddaramaiah was CM, Parvathi applied for compensation for the land after Muda allegedly took over the land for development without her permission. In 2017, Muda agreed to compensate her, and she was given 14 residential plots amounting to a total of 38,284 square feet in the prime Vijayanagar 3rd and 4th stage layouts.
The complainants argued that these 14 plots – in the heart of Karnataka’s second-largest city – were far more valuable than the original land, under Muda’s 50:50 scheme. After the controversy came to light, Siddaramiah offered to return the 14 plots if his wife was given ?62 crore as compensation.
The Muda 50:50 scheme, announced in 2016, entailed offering 50% of the developed sites as compensation to the original land owners. The controversial scheme was scrapped in 2023.

Kolkata (TIP)- A CBI court, denying bail to former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital principal Sandip Ghosh, has observed that the nature and gravity of the accusation against him is grave and it can attract capital punishment if proved. The CBI had arrested Ghosh and former officer in-charge of the Tala police station, Abhijit Mondal, for alleged tampering of evidence and delay in filing of FIR in the rape and murder of a doctor at the state-run hospital on August 9. The court in its order, dictated on September 25, said it appeared from the case diary that the process of investigation by the central probe agency was in full swing. Denying the bail prayer of Ghosh, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate S Dey observed that the nature and gravity of the accusation was grave and if proved, it might attract capital punishment.
The judge said the court was of the opinion that “it would be injustice flouting the principle of equity to release the accused on bail”.
He said in the order that a person might commit an offence with the help of other/s, and there was no need to be present for the other accused at the place of occurrence. The court also rejected the bail prayer of Mondal.
It granted the CBI’s prayer for judicial custody of the two accused till September 30. Ghosh’s counsel claimed before the judge that he was falsely implicated and there was no act on his part to commit the crime as alleged.
CBI seeks report from Bengal govt on biomedical wastes
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a probe into the financial irregularities at state-run R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata, has sought a report from the West Bengal health department on the general practices adopted in case of disposal of biomedical wastes in different medical colleges and hospitals in the state.
The development is significant amid allegations that a major part of the alleged financial scam at R.G. Kar pertained to the smuggling of biomedical wastes.
Sources said that among the queries made by the central agency to the state health department, the first is the time when the central policies regarding biomedical wastes were implemented in the state.
The second was whether the state health department had been monitoring the medical colleges and hospitals for sticking to the laid down norms on the disposal of biomedical wastes. Sources said the CBI officials have traced severe irregularities in the disposal of biomedical wastes.
As per rules, the biomedical wastes of any hospital are supposed to be disposed of following a particular procedure to eliminate the chances of their reuse. However, in the case of R.G. Kar, a major part of the biological wastes having the potential of reuse like saline bottles, injection syringes and needles, among others, were sold in the market instead of being disposed of.
Each hospital is also supposed to maintain a record of the amount of biomedical waste being disposed of by its authorities over a certain period. Often it has been noticed that in the case of R.G. Kar the quantum of the biomedical wastes disposed of by its authorities during a certain period is much less than what was reported by other state-run medical colleges and hospitals of similar size during the same period.

New Delhi (TIP)- As India and China discuss a potential resolution of their dispute along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that has been ongoing for four years, Chinese negotiators have suggested to New Delhi that their troops be allowed to patrol in two sensitive areas along Arunachal Pradesh.
The two spots — one in the Yangtse area north-east of Tawang, where the two sides had a deadly clash in December 2022, and the second in central Arunachal along the Subansiri river valley — have been firmly under Indian control for decades.
The recent Chinese demand came in response to the 21 rounds of talks that have been held between the two sides over the past four years, to discuss the existing dispute on the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
Here, Chinese soldiers have denied access to Indian troops to “patrol points” 10, 11, 12 and 13 (also known in military jargon as PP) on the LAC. All of these originate from “the bottleneck”, a geographical feature on the eastern flank of the 972 sq km Depsang plateau. Government sources, speaking to The Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said the Chinese demands were “unreasonable” and “devoid of logic”. “The last Indian Army patrol to the PP areas was in January 2020,” a source said.
The government sources reiterated that the so-called Chinese demand to allow its troops to patrol these two spots in Arunachal Pradesh was not a “quid pro quo”, as both had been in Indian control for decades.
On the other hand, the issue of patrolling PP 10, 11, 12 and 13 in eastern Ladakh is a dispute that cropped up in April 2020. Ever since, the two armies have been locked in a military standoff.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, speaking at an event in the US on Tuesday, for the first-time admitted that a part of the continuing India-China dispute along the LAC was to do with access to patrolling areas. “The main issue right now is the patrolling,” Jaishankar said, pointing out that the patrolling arrangements since 2020 had been disturbed. He went on to describe the India-China relationship as “significantly disturbed”. Military sources have separately confirmed that since April 2020, Chinese troops have not allowed Indian soldiers to patrol areas — PP 10, 11, 12 and 13 — which the Indian side had patrolled until the incursions by Beijing.
The aforesaid government sources explained that the two spots in Arunachal Pradesh the Chinese are demanding access to patrol, are important to hold. After the December 2022 clash at Yangtse, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had then told Parliament: “The PLA (People’s Liberation Army) troops on December 9 tried to transgress the LAC in Yangtse area of Tawang sector and unilaterally change the status quo.” Source: TNS

A huge cache of arms and ammunition have been seized by security forces from three districts in ethnic conflict-hit Manipur, a police statement said on September 28.
A joint team of Manipur Police and Assam Rifles seized two .303 rifles, one 9mm pistol with magazine, cartridges, four hand grenades, two detonators, and one each of country-made mortar and long-range improvised mortar from Loiching ridge in Kangpokpi district, it said.
The combined forces of state police, BSF and CRPF seized two improvised mortars, locally known as ‘pumpi’, during another search operation in Gothol village in Churachandpur district. State police and Assam Rifles also seized four HE-36 hand grenades, two ‘pumpi’ shells, three detonators, and one stun grenade, stinger grenade and tear gas shell each from Phainom hill range in Thoubal district.
All the seizures were made during search and area domination exercises by the security forces on Friday. No arrests were, however, made in connection with the seizures.
More than 200 people have been killed and thousands rendered homeless in ethnic violence between Imphal Valley-based Meiteis and adjoining hills-based Kukis in Manipur since May 3 last year.

India, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Nepal, Sweden and the UK were among 43 countries that abstained as the resolution was adopted with 124 votes

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling on Israel to end its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories within a year, a move that Palestine hailed as “historic”.
The nonbinding measure passed a 124-14 vote, with 43 countries abstaining.
The UNGA demanded that “Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility, and do so no later than 12 months”.
It also called on Israel to make reparations to Palestinians for damages incurred by the occupation.
The UNGA, whose mission includes promoting “respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms”, includes every sovereign country in the world, so Wednesday’s vote underscores the depth of the international opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
The resolution backed an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the UN’s top court – which found that Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end.
The court ruled in July that Israel is abusing its status as an occupying power, stressing that Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal.
The UNGA vote comes amid Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, which has killed more than 41,250 Palestinians. The ICJ has issued rulings ordering Israel to take steps to prevent genocide in Gaza and allow adequate humanitarian aid into the territory. The United States, which claims to pursue a two-state solution to the conflict, joined Israel in opposing the UNGA resolution on Wednesday – as did Czechia, Hungary, Argentina and several small Pacific island states.
The resolution was submitted by Palestine – a permanent observer state at the UN. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the resolution and urged countries across the world to take steps to pressure Israel to adhere to it.
“The international consensus over this resolution renews the hopes of our Palestinian people – who are facing a comprehensive aggression and genocide in Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem – to achieve its aspirations of freedom and independence and establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Abbas said.
Argentina: Nay vote, but committed to ceasefire efforts
Ambassador Ricardo Lagorio of Argentina said his delegation voted against the resolution for several reasons. However, he emphasised “this nay vote does not in any way mean that Argentina is no longer committed to a just and definitive peace to the Israel-Palestine conflict in conformity with international law and the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations.”
The resolution adopted goes beyond what has been established in the advisory opinion, he explained, also voicing strong support for a ceasefire to the war in Gaza.
“Only by resuming a process of dialogue based on the two-State solution, living side by side in peace and security with a secure and internationally recognised borders, will it be possible to achieve a lasting peace,” he concluded.
Japan casts favourable vote
Japan’s representative, whose delegation voted in favour of the resolution, said Tokyo attaches great importance to the ICJ and its work.
As stated in the court’s advisory opinion, he said Israeli settlement activities undermine the advancement of a two-State solution. Sanction measures should be taken based on the domestic laws of each country, he continued.
The broader goal is to rebuild trust between the parties and work towards a two-State solution, he said, adding that Tokyo will continue to support efforts by the United States, Egypt and Qatar in negotiating a ceasefire, returning the hostages and ensuring that humanitarian aid enters Gaza.
UK abstains despite call for two-State solution
United Kingdom Ambassador Barbara Woodward abstained from the resolution “not because we do not support the central findings of the ICJ’s advisory opinion, but rather because the resolution does not provide sufficient clarity to effectively advance our shared aim of a peace premised on a negotiated two-State solution”. “We respect the court and call for States to unite around renewed efforts towards a negotiated settlement in accordance with international law and the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,” she said, adding that the UK stands ready to work with other Member States on future resolutions. She condemned Israel’s expansion of settlements as “clear violations of international law”, emphasising the unprecedented levels of violence by extremist settlers over the past year used to systematically pressure Palestinian communities to leave their land. She called on Israel to hold those responsible to account and for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in order to ensure “a safe and secure Israel alongside a safe and secure Palestinian State”.
New resolution demands end to Israeli occupation
By the newly adopted resolution, the General Assembly “demands that Israel brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility and do so no later than 12 months from the adoption of the present resolution”.
The Assembly also “demands that Israel comply without delay with all its legal obligations under international law, including as stipulated by the International Court of Justice, by, inter alia: (a) withdrawing all its military forces from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including its airspace and maritime space, and (b) putting an end to its unlawful policies and practices, including ceasing immediately all new settlement activity, evacuating all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory and dismantling the parts of the wall constructed by Israel that are situated in the Territory, and repealing all legislation and measures creating or maintaining the unlawful situation”.

Elections to the 90-member Haryana Assembly will take place on October 5 and results will be out on October 8

A multi-cornered contest is expected in the elections for Haryana’s 90 member Assembly, with Aam Aadmi Party, Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, Jannayak Janata Party and Indian National Lok Dal all fielding candidates in the fray. BJP will seek to hold on to its mandate and return for a third term in office. Meanwhile, AAP and Congress have announced separate candidate lists after seat-sharing talks between the two parties failed.
Some Congress and BJP leaders have also entered the polls as independent candidates after not receiving tickets from their parties. Of these, several withdrew their nominations ahead of the cut-off date.
All major parties are also vying for Dalit votes in the State, which has a sizeable number of Assembly seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes, at 17. In the last Assembly elections as well as 2024 Lok Sabha polls, there was reduced support to BJP from the Dalit community, while Congress has seen gains. In 2014, BJP had won nine of the 17 seats reserved for the SC community, but in the 2019 assembly polls, this dropped to five. The Congress on the other hand, secured four and seven seats respectively in 2014 and 2019. Further, the Congress improved on its vote share among SC-reserved seats during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with a post-poll analysis by CSDS-Lok Niti noting that a majority of Dalits in Haryana shifted from BJP-led National Democratic Alliance to the INDIA bloc. Seeking to capitalise on this sentiment, prominent Dalit leader Selja Kumari had been fielded from Sirsa during the elections. Observers however, had suggested that it would have been more advantageous to the party if she had been fielded for the Assembly elections.
In a previous interview with The Hindu, Ronki Ram, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chair Professor of Political Science at Panjab University, said the narrative that the BJP could end the reservation worked against them, during the 2024 Lok Sabha election and was likely to hinder them now. “The Lok Sabha elections were held only a few months ago, and the narrative that the BJP could end reservation during the poll campaign had gone deeply into the minds of SCs, which is difficult to undo at this stage. The BJP is making a desperate attempt but it would be difficult to regain the lost trust,” he noted.
Another issue which is likely to impact polls is resentment over the Union government’s farm laws, now-repealed, which had sparked large-scale protests by farmers for over a year. This may have a bearing on BJP’s performance in the Assembly elections, as it did during the poll campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Finally, the Agniveer scheme is a point of contention during the polls as well. In his first election rally in Haryana on September 17, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of playing politics over the Agnipath scheme, and assured the crowd that all Agniveers returning from the Army after four years would have jobs in Haryana, a claim likely to strike a chord in Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, which sends several soldiers to the Army each year.
In the 2019 Assembly elections, BJP had won 40 seats, while Congress came in second with 31 seats. The Jannayak Janata Party made a solid showing with 10 seats, and seven independents were also elected. One seat each went to the Haryana Lokhit Party and the Indian National Lok Dal.
Congress
In Haryana, Congress has relied on sitting MLAs, party loyalists and old faces. It has renominated all of its 28 sitting MLAs. With 24 Jat candidates, Congress has placed reliance on Jat community votes, with former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda being a prominent representative in the party.
Among the key leaders in the State, Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been fielded from Garha Sampla-Kiloi, State Unit Chief Udai Bhan will contest from Hodai, while deputy CM Chander Mohan is in the fray from Panchkula. On September 6, former wrestler Vinesh Phogat and Olympic wrestler Bajrang Punia had both joined the Congress party. Now Vinesh Phogat has been fielded from Julana.
In a bid to strengthen party loyalty, seven relatives of party leaders have also been given tickets. Hisar MP Jai Prakash’s son Vikas Saharan has been nominated from Kalayat. Aditya Surjewala, the son of Rajya Sabha MP and congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, will be contesting from Kaithal.
According to Balram Sharma, head of the political science department at the D.A.V. College in Karnal, while Hooda and his supporters garnered many of the tickets, those supporting Selja and Surjewala have also been accorded berths.
Bharatiya Janata Party
The BJP is the current ruling party in Haryana, having been in power for two terms and looking to extend its rule to a third. It has faced internal conflict of late due to its decision to drop several sitting MLAs and replace candidates, having swapped out about one-fourth of its total 90 candidates to avoid anti-incumbency sentiments. Its list is dominated by OBC, Brahmin and Punjabi candidates, in keeping with BJP’s usual strategy on banking on non-Jat communities.
The MLAs who were dropped include two ministers — School Education minister Seema Trikha,who was replaced with Dhanesh Adlakha in Badkhal, and Health Minister Banwari Lal, who was replaced by Krishna Kumar as the candidate from Bawal. Kavita Jain and Ram Bilas Sharma were also dropped, as was State party president Mohan Lal Badoli.
Among notable party leaders, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini is contesting from Ladwa.
Savtri Jindal, mother of Kurukshetra MP Naveen Jindal, who did not get a BJP ticket, is in the fray as an Independent candidate in Hisar, facing off against senior BJP leader Kamal Gupta.
Aam Aadmi Party
The Aam Aadmi Party has also fielded candidates for 89 seats in the Haryana Assembly election. Candidates include Raj Kaur Gill from Ambala Cantt, Lalit Tyagi from Yamunanagar, Joga Singh from Ladwa, Satbir Goyat from Kithal, Sunil Bindal from Karnal, Sukhbir Malik from Panipat Rural, and Anurag Dhanda from Kalayat. Ahead of the deadline, BJP leaders Satish Yadava and Sunil Rao, the brother-in-law of actor Rajkumar Rao, joined AAP.
In the 2019 Haryana Assembly polls, AAP had fielded 46 candidates but failed to win a single seat. It received a vote share less than the NOTA option. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, AAP’s Sushil Kumar Gupta— the State AAP chief— lost in the battle for the Kurukshetra seat. Seat-sharing talks with Congress failed to progress owing to this poor performance; AAP had sought 9-10 assembly segments in Haryana.
Jannayak Janata Party
The Jannayak Janata Party, which won 10 seats in the previous elections, has stitched together a pre-poll alliance with Aazad Samaj party. Among key candidates are Digvijay Chautala, contesting from Dabwali, and Dushyant Chautala, in the fray from Uchana. JJP has also expressed support to Dushyant’s uncle Ranjit Singh Chautala, contesting as an independent from Rania after being denied a ticket by the BJP.
Indian National Lok Dal
The Indian National Lok Dal, which had won one seat in the previous elections, has stitched a pre-poll alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party. Candidates from the party in the fray include four family members, including Sunaina Chautala, the daughter-in-law of the late Partap Singh Chautala, and a brother of INLD head Om Prakash Chautala. Also in the fray are the grandsons of the late Devi Lal, Aditya Chautala, Arjun Chautala, and Om Prakash Chautala’s son and INLD secretary-general Abhay Chautala.
The party initially also supported Haryana Lokhit Party. However, INLD secretary-general Abhay Chautala said he would reconsider his alliance with the HLP after BJP threw its support behind HLP’s Gopal Kanda.

Nearly 40 per cent of migrant Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu cast their ballots in the second phase of polling for the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, September 25, officials said. The polling was held at 24 stations set up in Jammu, Delhi and Udhampur. “Nearly 40 per cent polling was registered at 19 polling stations in Jammu, followed by 37 per cent in Udhampur and 43 per cent in Delhi in the second phase of the Assembly elections,” Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner Arvind Karwani told PTI.
According to official figures, a total of 6,250 voters, including 3,514 men and 2,736 women, cast their ballots.
The highest number of 2,796 votes were polled in the Habakadal constituency, which was once a bastion of Kashmiri Pandits, followed by 909 in Lal Chowk, and 417 in Zadibal.
In the first phase of the polls, 27 per cent voter turnout among the displaced Kashmiri Pandits was reported at 19 polling stations in Jammu while 31.39 per cent was reported at one polling station in Udhampur. While 9,218 Kashmiri Pandits out of 34,000 exercised their franchise for the South Kashmir seats in Jammu in the first phase of the elections on September 18, 6,250 voters out of over 15,500 voted for the Central Kashmir seat in the second phase.

Srinagar/Jammu (TIP)- With more than 56 percent voters on Wednesday, September 25, exercising their franchise in the second phase of polling for 26 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, a group of diplomats from 16 countries witnessed the electoral process. The diplomats, invited by the Ministry of External Affairs, expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the elections, with some saying the process looks comparable to how it happens in their own countries.
70% polling in terror hotbeds
Militancy-hit districts Reasi, Poonch, Rajouri witness 74.7%, 73.8% and 70.95% polling.
Kashmir’s Budgam, Ganderbal and Srinagar districts record 62.98%, 60.55% and 29.51% turnout
Lower than in 2014
20 of 26 segments, which voted on Wednesday, September 25, saw lower turnout than in 2014 when the overall polling was above 60%
Jorgan K Andrews, Deputy Chief of the Mission at the US Embassy in New Delhi, said the voting process looked healthy and democratic. “It is great to see the enthusiasm. It’s great to see Kashmiris coming out for voting after a pause for 10 years. We are very excited to see the results. It looks very healthy and very democratic,” Andrews said at a polling station here. He said the process was similar to how it happened in his country. “It is very comparable. In my country, we use schools as well for voting. So it looks very similar,” he added.
Besides Andrews, diplomats from Mexico, Guyana, South Korea, Somalia, Panama, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Tanzania, Rwanda, Algeria and the Philippines were part of the delegation. They first visited a polling station at Ompora in Budgam and later, in Srinagar.
South Korean diplomat Sang Woo Lim liked the idea of “pink polling stations”, which are managed by all-female staff. Singapore’s Deputy Head of the Mission Cheng Wei Wei Alice said, “The process is similar to the one in Singapore. We use government buildings so that these are easily accessible to voters.”
Meanwhile, as per election officials, 56.05 per cent polling was recorded till evening, with militancy-hit Reasi witnessing the highest 74 per cent voting. Wednesday’s turnout was, however, less than that of the Phase-I, which saw 61 per cent polling. Chief Electoral Officer Pandurang K Pole said the polling was largely peaceful.
Three militancy-hit districts of the Jammu region — Reasi, Rajouri Poonch — saw people coming out in large numbers. Reasi saw 74.7 per cent polling, Poonch 73.8 per cent and Rajouri 70.95 per cent. Kashmir’s three districts, however, saw less voting than Jammu. Budgam registered 62.98 per cent turnout, Ganderbal, 60.55 per cent and Srinagar the lowest 29.51 per cent.
In Ganderbal where former CM Omar Abdullah is in the fray, people were seen waiting in long queues to cast their vote. “I decided to vote so that we have a legislator who can resolve our problems,” said Rashid Ahmad, a local resident.
Source: TNS