Srinagar: Five candidates from volatile south Kashmir, who had filed nominations to contest the upcoming municipal polls on a BJP ticket, were allegedly held hostage at the official residence of a senior party leader, Sofi Yusuf, to prevent them from withdrawing papers on Wednesday – the last date for withdrawal of nominations.
While four candidates, including two women, are from Anantnag’s Pahalgam municipal committee, the fifth one, also a woman, is from Aishmuqam area of Anantnag. Speaking to The Wire, one of the candidates said they were summoned by the police to district police lines Khanabal (Anantnag) on Tuesday afternoon.
“We were then taken to the residence of the BJP leader in housing colony Khanabal and detained there. We were not allowed to leave in order to prevent us from withdrawing nominations. All five of us had decided to withdraw nominations,” said one candidate, wishing not to be named, adding: “We were lured to participate in the elections with the promise of jobs. But we realised later that situation is not good.”
On Wednesday morning, family members of four candidates from Pahalgam rushed to the office of district commissioner Anantnag to seek his intervention. However, lack of response from any government authority forced the families to stage a protest and shout anti-BJP slogans outside the DC’s office.
“They have been abducted at the behest of the MLC. The police are not letting us inside BJP leader’s residence,” said the brother of another candidate, a driver by profession.
BJP leader Sofi Yousuf. Credit: Facebook
He said the moment his family came to know about his brother’s decision to contest polls, they persuaded him to withdraw his nomination. “Somehow, he (Yusuf) got a whiff of it. He summoned all four candidates to his residence through the police and kept them under illegal detention,” the candidate’s brother added.
Also read: In J&K Panchayat Polls, Real Issues of the People Have Taken a Back Seat
The candidate said that at 4 pm on Wednesday, police took them to the office of the district commissioner. “We pleaded there for allowing us to withdraw nominations but we were told that the time for withdrawal of nomination has already ended,” said the candidate.
He said “some officials” at the DC’s office asked them to sign “some papers”. “But we resisted following which we were taken to district police lines again,” said one of the detained youth.
He said one of the women candidates who had also made up her mind to withdraw her nomination had an argument with her husband, who is also contesting the polls, at police lines. “He (the husband) was against her withdrawal of nomination papers,” the candidate said.
An official said late on Wednesday evening that all the five candidates were shifted to Khanabal Dak Bungalow. “We are not allowed to go home. We don’t want to contest elections,” said another candidate. “Please help us in our release.”
The Pahalgam municipal committee has 13 wards. While not a single candidate has filed a nomination for five wards, a candidate each, all from the BJP, had filed nominations for remaining wards – meaning all the candidates would win uncontested.
While the first phase of the four-phased municipal polls is scheduled to start from October 8, the Valley hasn’t witnessed any poll campaigning nor has any party held any election rally amid threats by militants to contesting candidates. Even the state chief electoral office has kept names of contesting candidates a secret due to “security reasons”.
Also read: J&K Civic Polls: 13 BJP Candidates Elected Unopposed in Shopian
In Kashmir, a total of 613 wards are up for grabs. But till date, only 839 candidates have filed nomination papers for around 500 wards in 41 municipal bodies across the Valley. While the two largest parties – National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – have boycotted the polls, Congress, BJP and Sajjad Lone-led People’s Conference and independents are in the fray.
So far, the BJP has won at least 62 municipal wards uncontested in the Valley, most of them from south Kashmir, the hotbed of local militancy, mainly owing to boycott by NC and PDP, and threats by militants to the candidates.
The DC, Anantnag, Mohammad Younis Malik, said the candidates were “kept under protection owing to security reason”. When asked why these four candidates were picked up allegedly against their will and not allowed to withdraw the nomination, the DC dropped the line. He didn’t respond to repeated call from The Wire.
The MLC denied allegations that the candidates were kept under illegal detention. “Maybe the police has some inputs about any kind of threat to them and to ensure their security they were called by police,” he told reporters in Anantnag.
Meanwhile, BJP in-charge for Dooru-Verinag municipal committee in Anantnag, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, along with nine other party candidates withdrew nominations for the ULB polls.
A resident of Dooru, Bhat also resigned from basic membership of the party. “All the ten candidates have withdrawn their nomination,” a local officer in-charge of poll exercise confirmed to The Wire. Located in Anantnag the municipal segment spread over 17 wards is scheduled to go for polls in the last phase of elections on October 16. While the BJP had fielded candidates on 14 segments, Congress is contesting from all 17 wards, the official said.
The development took place on a day when unknown persons set ablaze paddy harvest of a local BJP candidate at Mandipora in Dooru. “The crop had been kept for sun-drying when some unknown persons set it on fire,” said a police official, terming it a “tactic by miscreants to harass candidates and force them to withdraw from the polls.”
The official said owing to “security reasons” most of the candidates, particularly those from far flung and “vulnerable” areas, have been shifted into official buildings. “Most of them are from BJP and there are some independents as well,” said the police official.
The government has already identified hotels and other accommodations in all districts to shift the candidate in case any candidate opts for it. It has also assured to provide security to candidates.
“A good number of candidates have been shifted to official buildings but none of the candidate has so far asked for security,” said the police official, adding both J&K police and paramilitary forces including CRPF have increased vigil and started night patrolling in poll-bound areas.
Mudasir Ahmad is a Srinagar-based reporter.