Jammu/Srinagar6 minutes ago
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Polling is underway in both the Hajin and Dragmulla seats. Both the women fighting on these two seats were the wives of former terrorists.
Re-polling is being held on two seats of District Development Council (DDC) in Jammu and Kashmir today. This election is being held on Dragmulla and Hajin seats. The election was rejected after the 2020 Pakistani nationals contested here. Voting started here from 7 am, which will continue till 2 pm.
Elections were held two years ago
Drugmulla seat in Kupwara district and Hajin seat in Bandipora district are reserved for women. Both these seats were contested by two Pakistani women Soumia Sadaf and Shazia Begum in December, 2020, but hours before the results were out, complaints were made regarding their nationality. After this, the State Election Commission withheld the result and ordered an inquiry.
Both women from PoK
Investigation revealed that both the women were residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). She was married to two former terrorists and came to Kashmir illegally with their husbands in 2010 under the government’s rehabilitation policy for surrendered terrorists. Thereafter the State Election Commission rejected the elections.
People had to wait for their turn to vote. The total electorate in Hajin is 15,351 and in Dragmulla is 32,845.
350 Pakistani women married Kashmiris
The investigation also revealed that around 350 Pakistani women have married Kashmiris. These Kashmiri men crossed the LoC in the early 90s to become terrorists. During his training in PoK, he had a change of mind and decided not to become a terrorist. Some of them married Pakistani women there.
Returned after the announcement of the government
After the resettlement policy was announced by the government, these people fled PoK with their families and came to India via Nepal, but after reaching Kashmir, the women found it difficult to get identity cards. During interrogation by the security agencies, these people said that they chose the route to Nepal to escape the Pakistani Army and its agencies, who never allow them to cross the LoC to surrender.
10 candidates in fray for Drugmulla seat and 5 for Hajin
Officials say that after removing the names of Somiya Sadaf and Shazia Begum, now 10 candidates are in the fray for Drugmulla seat and 5 for Hajin seat. Interestingly, some candidates have changed parties in the last two years, but their symbol has not changed. Due to this the public is in a dilemma.
42 polling stations have been set up in Drugmulla and 57 in Hajin.
PDP candidate joins People’s Conference
Sajjad Lone, who contested from the Drugmulla seat, has left Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP and joined the People’s Conference. The election symbol of PDP is ink pot and pen. So now People’s Conference is seeking votes on PDP’s symbol, while PDP is persuading people to vote against it.
Request to change election symbol rejected
Both the parties say that they had requested the election officials to change the symbols of the candidates, but the State Election Commission rejected it on the ground that the last date for withdrawal of nominations was November 23, 2020.
DDC elections were held after the removal of special status
The elections to the District Development Councils (DDCs) were the first step by the Center to revive the democratic process in the Union Territory after the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. There is no elected government in Jammu and Kashmir for the last four and a half years and there is no idea when the assembly elections will be held. The opposition has been blaming the BJP for subverting democracy in Jammu and Kashmir and depriving the people of their right to elect a government.