KL Report
SRINAGAR
A call by Kashmir’s Tosamaidan Bachao Front (TBF) to boycott elections affected polling in hilly hamlets of Budgam where voter turnout used to be much higher in every election.
TBF had urged the people living in and around Tosamaidan to stay away from polls as according to the Front the government failed to made the order about ceasing lease extension to Army public.
Majority of the people living in affected hamlets like Shunglipora, Sitaran, Drang, Zogu, Chhil, Batapora, Brass, Sigan, Khaipora, Suheilpather, Lassipora and Habar honored the boycott call and people in lesser number arrived at polling booth.
“These are hilly areas and the people here never paid attention to the boycott call of separatist leaders, but this time they did not vote in large numbers. The average polling percentage in these hamlets used to be 70 to 80 percent but this time the percentage was below 15 percent,” one of the members of TBF Malik Ghulam Hasan told CNS adding that if the Government would not made the order about Tosamaidan lease public then it would start an agitation against the government.
