Boycott Hotbeds Palhalan, Sopore Witness Brisk Polling In J&K Assembly Elections

Palhalan in north Kashmir's Baramulla which used to hog headlines in the early 2000s for frequent stone pelting and militancy incidents is witnessing a paradigm shift in the current Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections being held for the first time after abrogation of Article 370. ETV Bharat's Mir Farhat visits the area to gauge the voters' mood. Read to know how the changed political landscape is shaping up in Palhalan.

Palhalan (Jammu and Kashmir: The last phase of assembly elections in the Kashmir valley on Tuesday is witnessing people shunning the boycott politics and coming out to polling booths to elect their candidates.

Palhalan, once militancy and stone pelting hotbed in Pattan assembly segment of Baramulla is one such area witnessing brisk polling as people are queuing up at polling booths.

"We are voting to elect our candidate so that he can do development in our area. We are not boycotting this time as we want development of our area," Abdul Salam, a voter told ETV Bharat.

In the previous assembly elections in 2014, the polling station where ETV Bharat talked to voters, was marred with violence. A grenade was lobbed at this polling station housed in a government school by unidentified militants. However, there were no injuries then but the violence created fear among voters.

Voters say this time they have come out to vote as they want cheap electricity, better roads and education and jobs for their educated children.

A total of 16 assembly constituencies in Kashmir are going to polls today in Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts in the last phase of the polls.

Besides Palhalan, Sopore area in Baramulla assembly segment is also witnessing brisk voting. Voters whom ETV Bharat spoke to said that they were voting to "fix the wrong done to us" besides development and against rising power bills.