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The Presiding Officer of the Awantipora 'C' polling station in Pampore constituency, Fida Mohammed Farooqui, almost jumped from his seat, smiled and extended his hand in greeting.
"Welcome. You are the first to visit this polling station. So far, not one vote has been cast," he said. It was 0940 hours IST.
The third phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls commenced on a bloody note on Tuesday with five persons reported killed by militants in Kathua. The consequences were visible in Awantipora too, where militants are known to have a stranglehold.
There were more gun-toting and bullet-proof vest clad security forces on the roads than civilians.
Five young men sitting by the highway murmured that the militants had spread the word that anybody daring to vote would meet a dreadful fate.
"The threats by the militants may have an effect in the early stages of the polling. But people will definitely come out to vote as the day progresses," said Abdul Majid Bhat, a National Conference activist, in the Khadi Bhandar polling station in Pampore. His voice lacked conviction.
The Presiding Officer, Shakeel Ahmed, is an Aligarh-based Uttar Pradesh government employee. Only two of the 1089 registered voters had exercised their franchise in over two hours, he said.
But some mundane matters and not the voting percentage was weighing on the minds of the polling staff and the security personnel deployed in the booth. They complained about the administration not providing them with even basic facilities like water and a toilet.
The scene at the Islamia high school polling station was, however, very different. Eager voters were awaiting their turn in a long queue while well-armed security personnel kept vigil.
About 200 votes had been cast by 0900 hours. National Conference candidate Ghulam Nabi Bhat is popular in the area and it is believed that most of the voters present had come out because of him.
"Bhat's father, ex-MLA Mohammed Sultan Bhat, had done immense work for the people of this constituency. He has continued with this good work. If he wins, it will be on his own steam, rather than that of his party," pointed out Bilal Ashraf, a businessman.
"If not for Bhat's personal popularity, people would not have dared defy the boycott call by the militants," he insisted. There are eleven candidates in the fray for the Pampore assembly seat.
He said that one Mohammed Faiyyaz Khan had been injured on Sunday when militants hurled a grenade near the polling station. Khan has had to undergo eye surgery, Ashraf said.
The "atrocities and cruelties perpetrated by the Special Task Force and the Special Operation Group (of the J&K police)" while ostensibly tackling militancy have alienated people in Pulwama and the Anantnag districts, said Riyaz Khan, an Awantipora resident.
NC chief Omar Abdullah's talk of restraining the STF and SOG does not make much on an impression in Riyaz.
"It is his father, Farooq Abdullah, who set up the STF and SOG in 1996. The two outfits comprise of surrendered militants and goondas (anti-social elements) who loot, rape, maim and kill innocent people. So, the chief minister's protestations of innocence does not wash," he fumed.
Than, without warning, Riyaz turned his wrath on this correspondent. "It is better that you get lost now," he said. He needed no further urging.
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