Amir Tantray
Jammu, Oct 1: With polling for the last phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir has come to close, the biggest issue which remained talk of the town was return of statehood to the Jammu and Kashmir and every political party tried to touch this issue.
Besides statehood, unemployment, nationalism and addressing concerns of traders, who have immensely suffered due to various reasons, remained some major issues during these elections.
The return of statehood to J&K was on every lip and leaders across party lines tried to touch the issue as majority of people wanted J&K to be a state instead of a Union Territory (UT).
People were vocal about statehood but at the same time kept talking about nationalism. “Voting is our right and we are exercising it to be part of this democratic process. Those who get elected should work to get statehood back for J&K as it is necessary to keep our interests intact,” said Rohit Kumar, a resident of Udhampur.
During this last phase of Assembly elections, 40 seats of seven districts Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur, Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara went to poll and people in large numbers came out to vote for their candidates. In this phase, 24 seats of four districts of Jammu region went for the polls and from young boys and girls to aged people, everybody came out to vote.
Youth were also vocal about their participation and issues concerning their day to day life.
“Whosoever forms the government, they should create jobs for the youth, control inflation, especially in terms of vegetables and fruits and should provide a clean atmosphere by fogging as the threat of dengue is looming large,” said Ayesha Mahajan, a female voter from Jammu west Assembly constituency.
Another voter from Jammu North Assembly constituency, Ankush Khajuria said, “We are voting for the holistic development of Jammu and Kashmir as it lags behind many states in the country. We want better infrastructure, more jobs, better healthcare facilities and a secured environment.”
