Abdul Aziz Sofi, a street food vendor at Rajouri Kadal in Srinagar’s old city near Jamia Masjid, is a first-time voter at 66. The father of five daughters and two sons and grand-father to multiple kids has seen elections come and go but he never came out to vote, although the polling booth inside Islamia High School — run by a trust helmed by Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq — is only metres from his home.

On Monday, three polling booths inside the school witnessed a modest turnout of less than 10 per cent by afternoon but Sofi was among those who gave up his aversion to polling.

Why didn’t you vote all these years?

I am a Mirwaiz supporter so I never voted. I did not vote even before 1989 (militancy) when everyone would vote, perhaps because I was busy with some work. During all these years nobody voted, so I also stayed home.

Why did you vote this time?

I had made up my mind that I will vote this time, so I quickly went to vote (smiling, unlike in the past when voters in the city would avoid disclosing it to others). The fact is
we are going through hell and I hope this might bring us some relief.

Everything has become expensive and people are driven to suicide. My power bill has shot up from ₹700 a month to ₹1,820. A kilo of meat costs ₹700 and I have stopped eating it. We get 5kg rice at government depots and for that we have to waste two days. Earlier we used to get plenty of rice. Nobody dares to raise his voice.

Are there any other reasons?

There is a lot of unemployment. My elder son is working at a jeweller’s shop, while the other one is unemployed. It is not just me, others too are suffering.

Has your life improved after the 2019 scrapping of special status?

There is no improvement. I live in the same house. I do not own a car or a scooter. I used to earn ₹700-800 a day, now I earn ₹1,000-1,200. Although I earn more, this can buy me fewer things because life has become very expensive. Besides, I have a large family to feed.