by Masood Hussain
SRINAGAR: Results of the municipal elections have been released in detail by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Jammu and Kashmir. This has, perhaps for the first time, helped people to understand which ward they belong to and of which areas it comprises of, an issue that was earlier lost in the governance maze.
There are 74 wards and the contest was everywhere as far as candidates were concerned. Soura has emerged as the only ward where candidates were in the contest but not a single voter came out so it may require a re-poll. Junaid Azim Mattu has won from three wards – Rawalpora, Bod Dal and Solina, so there will be fresh elections from at least two wards wherefrom he will have to resign. He also lost from one ward because he was contesting from four wards.
Though the elections were held on non-party basis, there were two parties which contested with party symbols – BJP and the Congress. BJP has won from four Srinagar wards. Congress has 16 wards in its kitty. Rest are independents, some of whom might be proxies or candidates supported by political parties. National Conference and PDP stayed away from polls. BJP will be representing the wards of Karan Nagar, Basant Bagh, Nawa Kadal, and Bagh-e-Mehtaab in the reconstituted SMC. In six wards, a single candidate each had filed nomination and was declared elected, unopposed. As many as 27 berths were won by women, both unopposed and in the contest.
Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) is a major municipality in the state that will be flush with funds in coming days. This is mandated to play a key role in offering the basics to the city dwellers. The city is expanding much faster than all other cities in northern India because it has not evolved with the vertical housing so it grows horizontally and perhaps haphazardly. This will be run by 74 (excepting Soura, though) people who were elected in the lowest polled elections early this month. Here is the list of the wards and the 73 people who have ‘won’ to run the city. The details were sourced from the information that CEO has publicly shared.
1-Harwan: Zarina Akhter, an independent candidate was declared a winner. She polled 194 of the 312 votes that were polled across the ward’s 11 polling stations. She defeated Nighat Gul of Congress. Gulshan, another independent candidate polled 66 votes.
2-Nishat: Of the 559 votes that were polled at nine polling stations in this ward, independent candidate Sheikh Imran polled 192 votes. He defeated an independent Mohisen Zaffar who polled 161 votes.
3-Brane: Auqib Ahmad Renzu, an independent candidate was declared the winner as he polled 113 of the 331 votes polled in this ward’s 11 polling stations. He has defeated independent candidate Junaid Azim Muttoo, who polled 98 votes only. New Colony Brane has voted zero.
4-Dalgate: Sumaira Akhter was declared elected as she polled 129 votes out of a total of 259 votes polled on 12 polling stations. She defeated Mubeena of Panthers Party who secured 31 votes. Bonemsar and Gagribal booths polled no vote at all. Drugjan C polled just one vote.
5-Pathachowk: Mohammad Latif Mir, an independent candidate won this ward by securing 449 of the 1286 votes polled in this ward’s 13 polling booths. He defeated Showkat Ahmad Bhat, another independent candidate who polled 401 votes. The polling station at Noorul Huda School polled zero votes. There were only two votes in the Government High School Panthachowk polling station.
6-Lal Chowk: Only 71 votes were polled in 13 polling stations. Wajahat Hussain, an independent candidate, bagged the ward by polling 48 votes. He defeated Mohammad Arsalan Lone of BJP who polled 21 votes. Eight of 13 polling stations had zero votes and two had one vote each.
7-Rajbagh: In the contest between Shaheena and Nazima, both independents, Shaheena was declared a winner. She polled seven votes more than her immediate and the only rival. Total 19 votes were reported from 10 polling stations. Seven polling stations had zero votes.
8-Ikhrajpora: Of the 149 votes polled across the ward’s 13 polling stations, it was Ghulam Nabi Bhat, an independent, who wrested the seat. He defeated Aatif Nazir Khan another independent, who polled 32 votes. Two polling stations had zero votes each, two had four each and one had one vote and two others had two votes each.
9-Mehjoor Nagar: Of the 118 votes polled at 9 polling stations, three reported zero votes. Mohammad Saleem Bhat won the seat as he secured 84 votes. He defeated Shabir Ahmad Shora of BJP who polled 25 votes.
10-Natipora: A Congress candidate Sobee Jan was declared the winner, unopposed.
11-Chanpora: Of 10868 registered voters, as many as eight voters exercised their right of franchise at 13 polling stations. There were two migrant votes and both were rejected. It was Congress candidate Farooq Ahmad Dar who gave his opponents run for their money as he polled all the eight votes and won the seat.
12-Budshah Nagar: Congress candidate Aijaz Rasool Bhat won the seat as he was the lone contestant from the ward, CEO provided details suggest.
13-Baghat-e-Barzulla: Of 11486 registered voters for whom the election authorities had set up 14 polling stations, as many as 61 voters came to cast their votes. Eight polling stations did not get even a single voter. There were two votes at stations and three at another one, however. Naima Sara won this seat by polling 57 votes. She left only two votes each for Tahira Akhter and Nazili Parvez as Fancy and Zubaida of BJP could secure anything at all.
14-Rawalpora: This ward was won by Junaid Azim Mattu. He secured 168 votes. He defeated his nearest rival Abdul Gani Bhat of Congress who secured 76 votes. This ward has 10290 votes registered for which the government had set up 11 polling stations. Only 299 votes were polled. There was no station with zero votes. The lowest was 2, 4 and six from three polling stations.
15-Hyderpora: There were 10 polling stations for a voter population of 9355. Only 36 votes were polled of which 35 were secured by an independent candidate Ashiq Hussain Bhat who left only one vote for his rival Sheikh Abdul Qayoom of Congress. Two polling stations reported zero votes, four others had one each one had five, another eight and yet another nine and the biggest had 10 votes.
16-Humhama: It polled 59 votes at 14 polling stations. Four stations had no vote, two had one each, two had three each, and one had four. The seat was wrested by Naziya Yousuf of Congress who polled 41 votes, defeating her nearest rival Neelofer Badyari who polled 11 votes.
17-Hamdaniya Colony Bemina: One of the best-polled wards, as many as 1798 voters cast their votes. This ward has 13226 votes. Zahoor Hussain Rather of Congress won the seat as he secured 962 votes. He defeated Showkat Ali Rather, an independent, who polled 822 votes. Of the 15 polling stations, five stations reported zero votes. Two had one vote each and another had two votes.
18-Solina: Junaid Azim Mattu won from this ward also as he polled 157 of the 355 votes that were polled in 10 polling stations. He defeated Tanvir Singh of Congress who secured 92 votes. BJP got 50 votes from this ward. The total number of registered voters from this ward is 5659. Two polling stations reported zero votes and one was with two votes.
19-Aloochi Bagh: It has 7213 votes and there were eight polling stations. A total of 84 votes were valid and counted. The lowest polling was 2, 3, 8 and 9 from four booths. Ruqaya Gulzar won this ward by securing 37 votes thus defeating Zareena Akhter who secured 23 votes.
20-Sheikh Dawood Colony: Of the 96 votes that were polled in 13 polling stations, it was Mohammad Hanief Bhat, an independent candidate who won it. He secured 46 votes. Congress’s Shakeel Ahmad Khan emerged the runner-up with 27 votes.
21-Ziyarat Batamaloo: This ward has 8798 votes registered in the electoral rolls. Officials set up 12 polling stations of which one reported no vote, three had one voter each, two had two votes each, one had three and another four. A total of 62 votes were polled of which Shafat Gaffar, a Congress candidate, took the maximum – 25. He defeated Syed Imran Bukhari who secured only 20 votes.
22-Shaheed Gunj: A total of 123 votes were polled at 13 polling stations. Five booths had zero votes. It was won by Syeda of Congress who secured 63 votes defeating her rival Saleem Parveen by three votes. Saleem was an independent candidate.
23-Karan Nagar: This ward was overtaken by the migrant votes. Against 144 votes polled at 12 polling stations, migrants had cast 73 votes excluding 16 votes which were rejected. Seven polling stations had no voter at all, and two had one and three votes each. The seat was won by Ashok Koul of BJP. He bagged all the 73 migrant votes. His rival Parvaiz Nabi Wani polled 65 votes.
24-Chattabal: The seat had no contest. It was bagged by Congress’s Basharat bin Qadir in absence of an opposition.
25-Qamarwari: It has 7291 votes and there were 11 polling stations. A total of 142 votes were polled. Only one station reported zero votes. By securing 71 votes, Neelofer Khan, an independent candidate, was declared the winner. Her nearest rival was Meema who secured 42 votes.
26-Bemina East: Of 11016 voters registered for the ward and 12 polling stations installed for them, there were only 212 votes polled. The least polled stations had one vote, two votes in two stations, three in one and four in one. Shamima Khan of Congress won this ward by making a perfect century of 100 votes. She defeated Amir Mushtaq, an independent who polled 61 votes.
27-Bemina West: On nine polling stations set up for 8038 registered voters, total polled votes were at 228. All polling stations had votes, the lowest had two votes. Muzaffar Ahmad Guroo won the seat by polling 119 votes. He defeated Mujeeb Ahad Siddiqui of Congress who polled 93 votes.
28-Nundreshi Colony: There are 9294 votes registered for this ward and there were eight polling booths. Four stations reported zero polling, and one had two votes. A total of 48 voters cast their votes. Rabia Rehman, daughter of Abdul Rehman, an independent candidate, won this seat by polling 23 votes. She defeated her rival Neelam Bashir Ganai of BJP by a whisker – two votes.
Pic: Durdana Bhat
29-Parimpora: Of the 9151 voters slated to cast their votes at 11 polling stations, only 116 voters exercised their right to vote. Ghulam Nabi Sofi, an independent candidate won the sat by securing 98 votes. His rival Gulzar Ahmad Bangroo polled 14 votes. Six booths reported zero votes and two stations had one vote each.
30-Zainkote: The electoral office set up 14 polling stations for 12754 voters. Five stations reported zero votes. A total of 945 voters exercised their right to vote. The seat was won by Ghulam Rasool Hajam of Congress who polled 523 votes. He defeated Bashir Ahmad Mir, an independent, who secured 391 votes.
31-Lawaypora: Of 6385 votes registered for the ward, the electoral office set up eight polling stations. Four stations reported zero votes. A total of 1020 votes were polled. Fancy Jan, an independent candidate won the seat by securing 519 votes. She trounced Asifa Tariq Kara, wife of Tariq Hameed Karra of Congress, by 18 votes.
32-Mujgund: It has 9620 votes. None of the 10 polling stations had zero votes. It polled a total of 452 votes. Shahzad Ahmad Bhat, an independent, won the seat by securing 264 votes. He defeated Saleem Rather of Congress who secured 104 votes.
33-Tankipora: On 11 polling stations, the electoral office reported a total of 108 of which the migrant Kashmiri Pandits polled 100. This was in excluding 27 migrant votes, which were rejected. Eight of 11 polling stations had no vote at all. On three polling stations, there was one vote each at two and six at another station. Of the 108 polled votes, Congress’s Nukul Mattoo polled 99. BJP barely got three votes for its candidate, a formal militant.
34-Syed Ali Akbar: It has 7784 votes for which the electoral office had set up 10 polling stations. All but one polling station had some votes – a total of eight votes. These eight votes were polled in Zaldagar and the Congress candidate Gulshan Bilal took all of them. Her opponents Baby Sheema and Veena Gurtoo polled not vote at all.
35-Basant Bagh: Of 13748 votes registered in the electoral rolls, only 133 came to cast their votes at 15 polling stations. Those polled votes included 79 valid and 81 rejected migrant votes. At six polling stations, no voter came. Two polling stations had a vote each and two more had two votes each. In this situation, it was BJPs Nazir Ahmad Gilkar who won the seat by polling 77 votes. His nearest rival was from Congress, Mohammad Hussain Wada who secured 33 votes.
36-Fateh Kadal: This ward has 11267 registered voters for whom there were 11 polling stations. Five polling stations had no vote at all; three others had 2, 3 and 4 votes, respectively. A total of 50 votes were polled including 23 postal ballots of migrant Kashmiri Pandits in addition to the 77, which were rejected. Aijaz Ahmad Sofi, an independent candidate won the seat with the help of 16 migrant votes. He secured 22 votes and his nearest rival Abdul Rashid Bhat got only 15 votes. Incidentally, BJP got quite a few migrant votes.
37-Munawar Abad: Of 13009 voters registered for this ward, only 109 reported to 15 polling stations to cast their votes. 44 of the 47 migrant votes were rejected. Five polling stations did not register a single vote and seven others polled less than 10. Gulshan Abroo won the seat by securing 51 votes. She defeated Saira Sameer of Congress by three votes.
38-Khanqah e Mouala: It has 6690 votes for which the electoral office set up 14 polling stations across the ward. But there were only 135 votes. Parvaiz Ahmad Qadri, an independent candidate, won the seat by polling 74 votes. He defeated Ashiq Hussain Langoo who secured 48 votes only. While nine polling stations had less than 10 votes, one had not even a single vote.
39- Maharaj Gunj: It has 6805 votes registered with the electoral office that had set up 15 polling stations. While seven polling stations had no voter at all, six others polled below 10 votes each. However, the ward witnessed participation of 136 votes including 61, slightly less than half, votes of the Kashmiri Pandit migrants. These migrant votes helped independent candidate Farooq Ahmad Mir to win the seat with a total vote bank of 97, of which 33 are migrant votes. He defeated Asif Nisar Zargar who polled 39 votes, 28 of them polled by migrants.
40-Jamia Masjid: This key ward has 4166 voters registered with the electoral office. There were nine polling stations of which one had no vote and six had votes below 10. But still, it had overall votes of 67. Saima, wife of Mohamad Saleem Sheikh, an independent candidate polled 37 votes and won the seat. She defeated Asiya Yaseen who lost after securing 22 votes.
41-Mukhdoom Sahab: This ward surrounding the famous shrine has 6143 votes for which the electoral office had set up nine polling stations. Two wards reported zero voting, one had two votes and two others had less than 20. Overall, it polled 746 votes of which Congress’s Showkat Ahmad Kak bagged 372 votes and won the seat. His rival Firdous Ahmad Sheikh, an independent candidate, got 242 votes.
42-Khawaja Bazar: It has 5382 votes and there were 10 polling stations. Barring Roshan Ghar Mohalla, every other polling station witnessed voters coming and polling their votes. In total, it reported 172 votes. Mukhtar Ahmad Dar, an independent candidate, polled 102 votes and took this berth. He defeated Fayaz Ahmad who got 49 votes.
43-Akilmir Khanyar: As many 5990 voters were supposed to report at 10 polling stations that the government had set up across the ward. It polled 170 votes and all polling stations participated. Sami Jan won the seat by taking 144 votes leaving only 26 for Razia, her rival and runner-up. Both the women were contesting independently.
44-Rozbal: Of its 4782 voters, 153 reported and voted at nine polling stations set up in the ward. Independent candidate Umaan Maqbool Shera won this ward by securing 80 votes. With 69 votes, another independent candidate Mushtaq Ahmad Khan emerged as the runner-up.
45- Daulatabad: It has 8437 registered voters and all the ten polling stations reported modest voting. A total of 596 votes were polled. It was independent candidate Zubair Fayaz Dar who took the seat by scoring 218 votes. His nearest rival was a Congress candidate, Hilal Ahmad Sofi, who scored 141 votes.
46-Islam Yarbal: There was just one nomination in this women exclusive seat. Shazia Rashid, an independent candidate won it without any opposition.
47-Nawab Bazar: Electoral office records show that there was just one candidate who had filed the nomination papers. Since there was no opposition, Inayat Hussain Mir, an independent, has been declared the winner.
48-Nawa Kadal: One of the congested old city localities, it has 5372 registered voters for whom the electoral office had set up 11 polling stations across the ward. While four polling stations had no voters at all, five had less than 10 each. A total of 45 votes were polled in all the remaining stations. The seat was wrested by BJP candidate Arif Majeed Pampori who polled 27 votes. He trounced an independent candidate Irshad Ahmad Khan who could only secure 13 votes.
49-Safa Kadal: A total of 9072 voters are registered for this key old city locality. The government had actually set up 14 polling stations for the voters. As many as 12 polling stations reported no voter at all. In two stations, however, three votes were polled – two at Latar Masjid and one at Pal Yarbal. Shazia Bashir scored two votes and Fancy Ashraf won. It is Shazia who seemingly has won as she won two third of the votes polled.
50-Rathpora: This old city ward has 10029 votes registered in the electoral rolls and the officials had set up ten polling stations as well. There are migrant votes as well. One polling booth had no vote at all and five others had less than 10 votes. A total of 80 votes were polled in the entire ward. An independent candidate Mohammad Ashraf Bhat won the seat by polling 66 votes. He defeated Aabid Imtiyaz of Congress who polled 14 votes.
51-Eidgah: A sprawling constituency with 8386 votes registered in the electoral rolls, this ward had nine polling stations. Five polling booths, however, did not poll even a single vote. Four others polled less than 10 votes, each. The total votes counted by the staff were at 34. Mohammad Ashraf Bhat, an independent candidate won the seat by polling 18 votes. He defeated another independent Baba Firdous who polled 13 votes.
52- Palpora: There was just one candidate who had filed the nomination and she was announced winner without any competition. The winner is Fancy Ashraf wife of Mohammad Ashraf, who was an independent.
53-Tarabal: In this ward as well, there was just one candidate who had filed the nomination and she was announced winner without any competition. The winner is Sabia Irfan wife of Irfan Ahmad Mattoo who was an independent.
54-Kawdara: For 10888 voters in the key old city ward, the electoral office had set up 16 polling stations. Seven polling booths did not get even a single voter during the day and six others had less than 10 votes each. A total of 115 votes were polled of which 58 were polled by Majid Rashid Shuloo who was declared the winner. He defeated his nearest candidate Mehbooba who has secured 29 votes.
55-Hawal: There were 12 polling stations in the ward and at four stations no vote was polled. At three stations, less than 10 votes each were counted. Overall, the ward polled 346 votes. Nazia, daughter of Ghulam Mohamad Ashraf, an independent candidate polled 186 votes and was declared the winner. She defeated her nearest rival Masarat Banoo who secured 75 votes.
56-Alamgiri Bazar: This was one of the few wards that witnessed “brisk” poling. A total of 1882 votes were polled. Tanveer Hussain Pathan, who was contesting independently, polled as many as 795 votes. He defeated his nearest rival, Shah Ali by a margin of two votes.
57- Gili Kadal: This interior ward of the old Srinagar city had nine polling stations. Polling remained moderate at all the stations with an overall turnout of 285 votes. Arif Ahmad Baba polled 83 votes and won this ward. He trounced his rival Bilal Ahmad Pampori who had secured 65 votes.
58-Nowshehra: This ward that represents the spot where once medieval Kashmir king had its capital. There were 14 polling stations but not many people came out to vote. A total of 29 votes were polled. From seven polling stations, not a single voter was reported. At six other stations, voters came but nowhere there the number was even closer to five. It was Jameela Akhter who won this ward by polling 15 votes. She was far ahead from her nearest rival Nazima, another independent, who had only nine votes in her kitty.
59-Lal Bazar: At 14 polling stations, a total of 560 votes were counted. The contest was huge because two candidates were moving very close to each other. Finally, Nasir Ahmad Naikoo was declared the winner as he polled 287 votes. His nearest rival was Shabir Ahmad Joo who polled 246 votes. Joo was also an independent.
60-Bot Shah Mohalla: From nine polling stations, a total of 87 votes were polled. This was in contrast with the other ward touching its boundary. Danish Shafi, an independent, took the ward by polling 48 votes. He defeated Nazir Ahmad Bhat of Congress who had secured 24 votes only.
61-Omar Colony: This ward is also part of the larger Lal Bazar belt. It had only 26 votes from 13 polling stations which mean two votes from each station, by an average. Five stations had no voter. The remaining eight stations did not even have ten votes each. The vote count sheet shows two candidates polling 11 votes each. Afroza Akhter wife of Gazanfar Ali got 11 votes and Shaheen Shafiq Mir also polled 11 votes, according to result sheet posted by the CEO on its website. But the electoral office has declared Afroza Akhter as the winner and her rival as runner-up.
62- Jogi Lankar: There were 18 polling stations for 12642 voters registered for the ward. From eight polling stations, no vote came. Nine other stations had not even 10 votes each. The total votes counted were 77 and 55 of them had come as postal ballots from the migrant Kashmir Pandits. In fact, 59 votes were rejected including all the postal ballots. The result sheet shows 59 votes rejected but still counted them. Finally, Asif Ahmad Baig was declared the winner who polled a total of 51 votes, of which 49 came from migrants. Mohammad Fazil Khan ended up runner-up with 12 votes.
63-Kathi Darwaza: There were 12 polling stations for 9321 voters. From seven polling stations, no vote was reported at all. Two stations had five or less than that. But the counting officials had a total of 159 votes to count. Syed Mohammad Hussain was declared the winner as he polled 134 votes. He was miles ahead from his nearest rival Rafiq Ahmad Dar who had only 11 votes in his kitty.
64-Lokut Dal: This almost aquatic ward has 8140 voters registered in the electoral rolls. The government set up 13 polling stations. But the area that usually would participate stayed away. From 12 booths, either no voter came or were less than 10 votes. But it still had 61 votes to count. Authorities declared Sara of Congress as the winner as she poled 26 votes. She defeated Masooda Banoo who had only 23 votes. Three votes made a big difference.
65-Bod Dal: Unlike its counterpart, this ward votes better. As many as 2336 votes came out from a total of 9030 voters registered in the rolls. Junaid Azim Mattu won this ward by polling 1083 votes. He defeated his rival Ghulam Hassan Moti who had secured 1004 votes. There was just one polling station wherefrom no vote came.
66-Hazratbal: As many as 276 votes were counted from 14 polling stations of this vital ward in the periphery of the city. Five stations had no vote to count; five others had less than 10 each. But still, the ward had 276 votes of which 98 were polled by Shafiq Ahmad Zaildar. He defeated his rival with good margin because he had only 45 votes.
67-Telbal: This ward in the periphery of the city has 8718 votes for which the government had set up 10 polling stations. But, however, were not excited. Five polling stations had no vote to count; three had less than 10 each. Still, the total votes to be counted were 40. There were two women in the contest. Kulsooma polled 38 and won. Her rival had barely two votes.
68-Habak: From 13 polling stations, a total of 206 votes were valid and counted. Five stations sent no vote to count. Mohammad Salim Lone secured 192 votes and won.
69-Soura: There are 11264 voters registered in this key ward of the city. Electoral office set up 12 polling stations. But there was no voter at all even though there were three candidates in the fray.
70-Buchpora: There are 9854 voters registered in this key ward of the city. Electoral office set up 12 polling stations. But not many voters came out. There was no vote polled at eight stations and three others had one vote each. One station, however, polled 27 votes, which were polled by Nazira Bano.
71-Ahmad Nagar: There were 10 polling stations for 9531 voters registered from this ward. Four stations did not get a voter at all. Four others got less than 10 votes each. The counting staff actually had 73 votes in the hand of which 38 were secured by Abdul Majid Tantray, an independent candidate. He defeated Ghulam Ahmad Shalla of BJP who had polled 11 votes.
72-Zakoora: As many as 179 votes were polled at 12 polling stations. Abdul Wahid Dar secured 152 votes leaving only 27 to the BJP candidate Zubair Nazir Wani. Four polling stations did not vote at all. Six other stations had less than 10 votes each.
73-Chatterhama: There was just one candidate who had filed the nomination and she was announced winner without any competition. The winner is Hasina daughter of Ali Mohammad Sheikh, a Congress candidate.
74- Bagh-e-Mehtab: At seven polling stations, there were only nine votes. In fact, two stations had no vote at all. It was Bashir Ahmad Mir of BJP who secured eight votes and defeated his rival Mohammad Ashraf Bhat who just had one vote.
