34% polling in Anantnag despite boycott calls

Defying separatists' boycott calls and militant threats, around 34 per cent of voters cast their ballots in the prestigious Anantnag constituency on Wednesday.

The voting percentage was five per cent less than the 2014 assembly polls when the late chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed won the seat by 6,000 votes. The byelections in the constituency were necessitated with the demise of Mufti on January 7.

This time around Mufti's daughter and Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is locked in a triangular battle with Congress and National Conference from this prestigious seat.

Voter turnout in Wednesday's by polls was recorded at 33.84 per cent compared to 39 per cent in 2014 in the Anantnag constituency. In 2008, the voter turnout in the constituency was recorded at 41 per cent.

Traces of boycott were also visible in certain areas with some polling booths recording negligible polling percentage. Particularly the urban areas in the Anantnag town were oblivious to the polling. In Lal Chowk polling booth only 40 out of 275 votes were cast by 3 pm. There were other polling booths including Qazibagh which witnessed very less polling.

"Elections are not going to solve any issue. We need to look for bigger issues that confront people," said Sameer Ahmad in Anantnag town.

Enthusiasm marked the elections in rural belts of the Anantnag constituency. Long queues of people were witnessed outside the polling booths. People particularly the first timers were thrilled to cast their ballot.

"I have been studying in Jammu. Since there are vacations I came to Kashmir. I am casting my ballot for the first time and I am very much thrilled to exercise my right to franchise," said Gurleen Kour, a BDS student.

The polling was conducted in the backdrop of threats by militants and call for poll boycott by various separatists groups including hard-line Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Hizbul Mujhadeen militant group had put up posters asking voters to stay away from the polls in Anantnag constituency.

Chief electoral officer of Jammu and Kashmir Shantmanu said the polling was peaceful and incident free in the Anantnag constituency. "It was an incident free poll. There was no major untoward incident. There was no major complaint. There were few complaints about the violation of model of conduct. But all of them have addressed, examined and disposed off," he said.

Shantmanu said 117 polling booths were set up including 15 for migrants in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.