Normalcy returns to Kashmir after LS election, shutdown
Wajahat Shabir
Srinagar: Normal life resumed across Kashmir on Friday after a day-long strike the preceding day on the call given by the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) urging the masses to stay away from the second phase of the parliamentary elections in Kashmir.
All the shops and other business establishments reopened and traffic was seen plying on the roads. Train services in Kashmir also resumed after remaining suspended on Thursday for security reasons, a senior railway official said.
Train services also resumed across the Budgam-Srinagar-Islamabad-Qazigund railway line, he added.
Notably, on Thursday Lok Sabha polling recorded a 45.7 percent turnout in Udhampur and Srinagar parliamentary constituencies.
In Srinagar constituency, majority of voters stayed away from polling booths.
The polling day also witnessed sporadic clashes between the protestors and the government forces.
The clashes were reported from Srinagars’ Sekidafar, Eidgah, Noorbagh, Qamarwari, Nawa Kada and Nowhatta areas, witnesses said.
Srinagar parliamentary constituency comprises of three central Kashmir districts – Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal.
For the seat, Farooq Abdullah of the NC faces Agha Mohsin of the PDP, Irfan Ansari of People’s Conference and Khalid Jehangir of the BJP.
In Udhampur, a direct contest between Union minister Jitendra Singh of the BJP and Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress is being witnessed.
KV Correspondent
