NEW DELHI, Sept 15: The only woman candidate in the first leg of the controversial polls in Kashmir that begin on Monday, was declared underage and thus disqualified.

Another woman, a government minister, survived an assassination attempt on Sunday as Indian security forces, under a rare global watch, tensely supervised the preparations for the four-stage race.

But President Pervez Musharraf may heave a sigh of relief because India’s Deputy Prime Minister, Lal Krishan Advani, has already declared what he sees as imminent success of the polls as a failure of Pakistan and a victory for Indian democracy.

India has frequently accused President Musharraf of seeking to subvert the Indian-backed and American-approved elections. Terming Pakistan’s bid to disrupt elections in Jammu and Kashmir as ‘failure’, Advani asserted on Sunday that there would be free and fair polling in the state as people are participating in the process with ‘enthusiasm’ in their quest for an end to terrorism, one Indian report claimed quoting the rightwing strongman.

“Despite stepped up terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir as part of Pakistan’s attempt to disrupt polls, people are taking part with great enthusiasm as they feel violence should stop and for this impartial election is needed,” Advani was quoted as telling reporters.

“They think increasing participation in the poll process would play a significant role in stamping out terrorism,” Advani said. “Even last week’s assassination of Jammu and Kashmir Law Minister, Mushtaq Ahmed Lone, has failed to create any adverse impact on the election process as intended by Pakistan, he said, adding that Sunday’s attack on state tourism minister Sakeena Itoo was yet another attempt to disrupt elections,” the report quoted Advani as saying.

Asserting that security forces have succeeded in curbing terrorism effectively, Advani said the biggest success was the fact that Pakistan had now failed to lure Kashmiris for armed training and send them back to Kashmir for violence, an agency report said.

“Now only foreign mercenaries including Afghans and others are being sent for terrorist violence in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

Major international TV networks including CNN and BBC, besides other news organisations have descended on the Kashmir Valley for coverage of the assembly polls starting on Monday. As many as 400 journalists from international, national an local media organisations are expected to cover the internationally important state elections.—J.N.