With bad roads, stinking streets and garbage strewn everywhere, voters stood in long queues at the polling booths in many places, including the government school in Ramban, a hilly area on the banks of river Chenab, to cast their ballots, hoping that the formation of the new regime will provide them with the much-awaited relief from their daily problems of inadequate water supply and bad roads.
When residents of Ramban and many other parts of Jammu and Kashmir went to the polls for the first time after a decade and after Jammu and Kashmir became a Union Territory, a different hope was on most faces of the town and people were whispering about the name of a particular candidate.
Rukhsana Begum, a 24-year-old housewife from Ramban’s Ashri area, walked through a narrow street with her husband Mohd Salim and mother-in-law Zulekha Begum after casting her vote. She said she wanted better roads to be built on priority in her area and for that she had to vote for the right candidate.
She also said that rations from government godowns had not been delivered on time in the past six months, leaving many poor families in dire straits.
After voting for the candidate of her choice, another woman, Naseema Begum, 25, from Sri area of Ramban district, also raised the issue of the bad condition of roads and flooding in the creek near her home.
Kanika, 22, who is studying for a postgraduate course in political science at Jammu University, is voting for the first time and claims to be voting for restoration of the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and for development in her constituency.
Similarly, 22-year-old postgraduate Shreya Sharma said this was the first time she went to vote with a sense of responsibility and the expectation of change.
“The roads in my area are dilapidated, the veterinary clinic is in a mess, stray dogs have become a major nuisance, water and electricity problems have become a daily occurrence, and landslides can cause road blockages even when it rains a little. This legislative assembly election is being held after a decade, and we should vote absolutely responsibly,” she stressed.
The authorities have provided adequate security arrangements and other necessary facilities like drinking water, wheelchairs etc. for the convenience of voters.
First-time voter Arushi Raina, 25, a native of Maitra, who is pursuing her Masters in English, was queuing to cast her vote at another polling station set up at the Maitra Government Higher Secondary School for Girls, which was converted into a pink polling station.
She is unhappy that she is living in 2024 and her district is still struggling with drinking water and other issues every day.
Babli Devi, a 50-year-old resident from Maitra district also expressed concerns for Arushi, while Shahzan Begum, 39, from Maitra highlighted issues such as unemployment, soaring prices of essential commodities and bad road conditions that make it difficult for pregnant women to travel in certain emergency situations, especially during rainy days, when roads remain closed.
Mohd Rafiq, a 42-year-old disabled shop owner, enthusiastically travelled to the polling station in his wheelchair and after casting his vote, he also planted a sapling at the school where the pink polling station was built.
He informed that there are many physically challenged people in Ramban and they have been suffering for five consecutive months as the Social Welfare Department stopped disbursing pension.
“Some of us have not received our pensions yet because their pensions are still under review,” Rafiq added. “Most of them can only survive on the meagre pensions given by the government, but if the government stops paying them, all kinds of suffering will befall them.”
Businessman Jon Mohd, 50, who expects better progress in forming a new government, has cast his vote for the candidate of his choice.
At another polling station located at Maitra Boys High School, where turnout was very low, Nanak Chand (70), a farmer from the same Maitra area, said his area was facing water supply problems and it would take 2-3 days for the concerned water department to supply water.
He expects that may change under the new regime.
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