A jawan keeps vigil during a red alert sounded in view of PM Narendra Modi's rally in Srinagar (Press Trust of India photo)
Srinagar:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a rally in Srinagar today ahead of tomorrow's voting in the state election. The city has been heavily fortified, the result of last week's serial attacks in different parts of the state, which is voting in five phases for its next government.
Authorities imposed a daytime curfew Monday in some parts of Srinagar, barring residents from leaving their homes. Main roads leading into Srinagar were lined with razor wire to contain traffic, and police and paramilitary soldiers were patrolling on foot and in armoured vehicles.
At noon, the PM addressed a public meeting in Samba, where he pledged, "I assure you the love you have given me, I will return with interest through development."
The PM's Srinagar rally is being held in a sports stadium - festooned with orange BJP flags and huge banners showing Mr Modi's face. This is the PM's third visit in a month, as he leads his party, the BJP, in its first major bid for power in India's only Muslim-majority state.
Nearly 3,000 paramilitary troops are positioned in and around the stadium.
On Friday, a series of terror strikes hit the state, killing seven soldiers and three policemen. Six terrorists were shot dead; army officials say "the unambiguous hand of Pakistan" is evident -they say ammunition and food packets recovered from the bodies of the attackers had stamps of Pakistan.
Tomorrow will mark the third of five days of voting in Jammu and Kashmir. Results will be declared on December 23.
The PM and military officials have said the attacks represent the frustration of separatists whose call for a boycott of the elections has been blatantly defied, with a record voter turnout of 70 percent of Kashmiris in its first two phases.
The BJP is banking on votes in the Hindu-dominated region of Jammu, Buddhist Ladakh and independents in Kashmir to seize power.
Authorities imposed a daytime curfew Monday in some parts of Srinagar, barring residents from leaving their homes. Main roads leading into Srinagar were lined with razor wire to contain traffic, and police and paramilitary soldiers were patrolling on foot and in armoured vehicles.
At noon, the PM addressed a public meeting in Samba, where he pledged, "I assure you the love you have given me, I will return with interest through development."
The PM's Srinagar rally is being held in a sports stadium - festooned with orange BJP flags and huge banners showing Mr Modi's face. This is the PM's third visit in a month, as he leads his party, the BJP, in its first major bid for power in India's only Muslim-majority state.
Nearly 3,000 paramilitary troops are positioned in and around the stadium.
On Friday, a series of terror strikes hit the state, killing seven soldiers and three policemen. Six terrorists were shot dead; army officials say "the unambiguous hand of Pakistan" is evident -they say ammunition and food packets recovered from the bodies of the attackers had stamps of Pakistan.
Tomorrow will mark the third of five days of voting in Jammu and Kashmir. Results will be declared on December 23.
The PM and military officials have said the attacks represent the frustration of separatists whose call for a boycott of the elections has been blatantly defied, with a record voter turnout of 70 percent of Kashmiris in its first two phases.
The BJP is banking on votes in the Hindu-dominated region of Jammu, Buddhist Ladakh and independents in Kashmir to seize power.
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