Srinagar: The number of people eligible to vote in Lok Sabha polls for Anantnag district stands at 5,29,256 and of them a meager 1.43 percent came out to vote in the south Kashmir district in first two hours of polling on Tuesday.
The District is spread over 6 Assembly segments comprising Anantnag, Dooru, Kokernag, Shangus, Bijbehara and Pahalgam.
According to officials, Kokernag recorded 2.3% voting, Dooru 1.47%, Shangus 1.53%, Pahalgam 0.22%, Anantnag.0.86% and Bijbhera 0.23% during the first two hours of polling.
The Election Commission of India has curtailed the polling duration for Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency by two hours.
Anantnag District has 529256 electors including 269603 males, 257540 females, 2102 service electors (2091 male and 11 female) and 11 transgender voters. For smooth polling, the ECI has setup 714 polling stations in the district.
There are 18 candidates in the fray for Anantnag constituency including PDP president and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti.
The Congress has fielded its state president Ghulam Ahmad Mir while former High Court judge Hasnain Masoodi is contesting on the National Conference ticket.
A 57-year-old lawyer Shams Khwaja, hailing from Gautam Budh Nagar of Uttar Pradesh is also in contest from the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat which goes to polls district-wise in three phases on April 23, 29 and May 6 due to security concerns. Khwaja’s nomination as an Independent candidate was contested by rival candidates before the District Electoral Officer on the ground that his name was not in electoral rolls of the constituency. However, he managed to convince his opponents and officials that in parliamentary elections any Indian citizen can contest from anywhere, including J&K.
The other candidates in the fray are Sofi Yousuf of Bhartiya Janta Party, Nisar Ahmad Wani of Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party, Ch. Zaffar Ali of Jammu Kashmir People’s Conference, Sanjay Kumar Dhar of Manav Adhikar Party, Surinder Singh of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) and Imtiyaz Ahmad Rather, Ridwana Sanam, Riyaz Ahmad Bhat, Zubair Masoodi, Ali Mohammad Wani, Gh Mohammad Wani, Kyasir Ahmed Sheikh, Manzoor Ahmad Khan and Mirza Sajad Hussain Beigh, all independents.
