The first phase of the urban local bodies (ULB) polls in Jammu and Kashmir – the first in 13 years - began Monday morning amid tight security even as many voters here complained that they were “clueless” about the candidates or the voting schedule.

The state’s two main parties —the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — have boycotted the elections over the “lack of clarity” surrounding the Centre’s stand on legal challenges in the Supreme Court to Jammu and Kashmir’s special status.The last elections to urban local bodies were held in 2005.

The NC and PDP’s boycott has made the polls a direct contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) amid an escalation in violence in the state.

Shoaib Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar, which is voting in the first phase, said people in his ward did not know who the candidates were. “Ask anyone here if they know who the candidates are, they will tell you they have no idea. There is too much secrecy,” Ahmad, who works at a private company, said.

He said the government was only interested in “showing” that an election was being held, but did not intend to conduct the polls in a proper manner.

Ishfaq Ahmad, a resident of Ganderbal, which will vote in the last phase on 16 October, echoed Ahmad’s view.

“We have no idea who is contesting from our ward. There has been no campaign or door-to-door canvassing by anyone. Even the government has not put the details of the candidates on the election commission website. There are simply no details anywhere,” he said.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a police official said the candidates filed their nominations in secrecy and did not campaign openly because of a threat from militants.

Militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) had in January warned former panchayat members against contesting the elections. The group’s operational commander, Riyaz Naikoo, had threatened to pour acid into the eyes of anyone who dared to contest the polls. Unidentified gunmen killed two NC workers in Srinagar’s Karfali Mohallah on Friday.

“The candidates have been given security and most of them have been taken to secure locations, but the situation is such they cannot campaign. The threat is not only from militants, but from mobs as well,” the official quoted above said. As many as 2,990 candidates are in the fray for the multi-phase polls.

Khalid, another resident of the state, said he was earlier excited about voting but now wanted the polls to be put on hold.

“The government says the situation does not permit them to provide the candidates’ details. In that case, they should have delayed the polls till there was an improvement. I was excited to vote, especially since EVMs were introduced. However, I do not have essential details [of the candidates and schedule] for voting, so how and why will I vote?” he asked.

Apart from the secrecy surrounding the candidates, people in parts of state’s summer capital said they did not know the voting timings as well.

“Forget about who is contesting, we do not even know when is voting taking place in our area,” Ghulam Qadir, a resident of Srinagar’s Sekidafar area. He said he has seen many polls, but “nothing like this has ever happened”.

A senior Congress leader, who wished to remain anonymous, said the atmosphere in the state was not conducive for polls, but their party decided to contest after the BJP-led Centre “forced” the elections on the people.

“This is the most low-profile election in the history of the state. The atmosphere was not conducive for the polls, but it was thrust on us by the Centre,” he said.

The Congress leader said the secrecy maintained by the administration over the whole process has cast a shadow over the exercise. “In such a situation only the candidates’ friends, relatives and party colleagues of the candidates will come out to vote .”

Security beefed up

Around 40,000 additional forces have been deployed and a three-tier security has been thrown around the polling stations, security officials familiar with the matter said.

Separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was on Sunday placed under house arrest. On October 2, police took Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik into preventive custody. Hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani continues to be under house detention ahead of the four-phase polls.