Few takers for poll boycott call in Udhampur

There do not seem to be many takers of Kashmiri separatists’ poll boycott call in the Udhampur constituency, from where Union health minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad is seeking election to the Lok Sabha and is pitted against 12 other candidates.
It is for the first time that Mr Azad is contesting election to Parliament from his home state Jammu and Kashmir. He is originally from Bhalesa, a remote area of Doda district of the Udhampur constituency. It has an electorate of 14,61,373 and will go to polls on Thursday.
But given the topography of the constituency and in view of the fact that its hilly districts of Kathua, Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban have been over the years infested by militancy, the authorities have put up a tight security umbrella over the constituency ahead of the polling.
Out of 2,051 polling booths, 108 have been identified as “critical” and apart from deploying thousands of police and paramilitary forces personnel across the constituency and also to guard polling station, the Army has taken over the heights and stepped up patrolling of sensitive areas to thwart possible attacks by militants, particularly in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts.
Official sources said that though the number of militants present in these areas has come down considerably and, in fact, there have not been any major incidents of violence during the past year, they are still capable of striking at places; hence the authorities are not willing to take any chances. According to DIG Doda-Ramban range Ashkoor Wani, the Army “has been dominating heights of Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts to maintain pressure on few surviving militants, encourage people of remote areas to cast vote and ensure peaceful polling.”
From all indications, the main contest for Udhampur seat is between Mr Azad and BJP’s Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also fighting an election for the first time in his political career.