Srinagar: Along with the cold and icy winds blowing across Jammu and Kashmir, its voters are also expecting a change in government which they hope will bring in development and end the "corrupt" regime of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Across several constituencies of north Kashmir which will vote on November 25 in the first phase of Assembly elections, the common theme is "change". Be it the isolated Gurez or Ganderbal which is near Srinagar, most of the voters seem to be extremely unhappy with the present National Conference regime.
Corruption and unemployment are the two biggest factors in these elections even though nepotism, lack of development, poor electricity supply, crackdown by security forces and Article 370 are also being debated hotly
The unemployment rate is very high and groups of youngsters can be seen roaming the streets or killing their time in the market place in every town of Kashmir valley. Some elders said that if their children cannot get a proper job according to their qualification, then they are likely to fall in bad company and may even turn stone pelters leading to a crackdown by security forces which will further isolate the common Kashmiri.
Ganderbal, which is represented by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the current Assembly, is not keen on repeating its "mistake of 2008". "We have been cheated. Omar promised to visit the constituency 2-3 times in a month but has not shown his face even once in the last six years. He has only come now to seek votes. We will teach him a good lesson," a group of shopkeepers at Ganderbal's Tawheed chowk told IBNLive.
Omar is not contesting from Ganderbal and has instead moved to Sonwar and Beerwah. Ganderbal voters say that he realised that his game is up in Ganderbal and so he "fled".
"I passed B Com in 2009 and then filled various forms for government jobs. But I failed to get a job. Several people who had political connections landed jobs. I then joined a private firm at a salary of Rs 4000. But the firm closed down after the recent floods. This government is only for the corrupt," said Akhtar Nazir Kalla of Zakura which is divided among the two seats of Ganderbal and Hazrathbal.
Bandipora in north Kashmir is not really known for a high voter turnout but the civil administration has taken several steps to ensure more people exercise their franchise. Crackdown on stone-pelters, those trying to enforce election boycott and known trouble makers are some of the steps that have been taken to ensure a high turnout.
District officials point to the massive rally addressed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium in Bandipora and aggressive campaigning by Peoples Democratic Party, National Conference and others to claim that people are eager to take part in the democratic exercise.
This town situated along the famous Wular lake, which is the largest fresh-water lake in Asia, too has its own set of problems which its residents say have only exacerbated under the present National Conference government. A group of youngsters said that they have failed to get any job under the present government as they had no contacts or could not pay bribes.
Lack of electricity is a major issue in every town of the Valley with the exception of Srinagar. Many areas get just a few hours of power. Frequent power cuts is also blamed on corruption with residents of a village in Ganderbal claiming that they have to pay electricity bills every month even though they hardly use it.
Poor quality of education in government schools and colleges is another reason behind Omar government's unpopularity. Schools in Ganderbal, Bandipora and Gurez are manned by teachers who are not qualified and have been appointed on a temporary basis.
Many school teachers just come to mark their attendance for salary and then impart private tutions charging hefty fee.
The situation is even worse in Sonawari and Kangan which will also vote on November 25. The other seats where polling will take place are Nubra, Leh, Kargil, Zanskar, Kishtwar, Inderwal, Doda and Bhaderwah.
While election banners, party flags and workers campaigning are seen all across the constituencies going to vote on November 25, a large security force comprising of Central Reserve Police Force and the state police has been keeping a hawk eye on the entire proceedings.
Some of the voters are not really keen on going to the polling booths partly because of the boycott call given by All Parties Hurriyat Conference and partly due to a general apathy that nothing is going to change, but many others say that they will exercise their franchise to elect a better government.
The security situation has improved vastly in Kashmir in the last few years and boycott calls now have an impact only in certain pockets of cities and towns with villages witnessing brisk polling.
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