India, Jan. 19 -- Somaya Sadaf, originally a resident of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) came to Kashmir in 2010 after marrying a local militant from village Batargam in North Kashmir district of Kupwara who had crossed the Line of Control (LoC) for arms training in the nineties. A successful entrepreneur now she was an independent candidate in the just concluded District Development Council polls. Her symbol was laptop.

Similarly Shazia Aslam, who also hails from Muzaffarabad in PoK and is married to an ex-militant was contesting from Banyari in Hajin.

But the authorities stopped counting of votes in two seats as the two women are not considered as legal residents of J&K despite the fact that the union government treats...