Sameer Ahmad
Anantnag: A meager 12.85% voting turnout was witnessed in Anantnag, one of the four districts forming the south Kashmir Parliamentary constituency. Three others districts—Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian—are going to polls on April 29 and May 6.
The Anantnag District is spread over 6 Assembly segments comprising Anantnag, Dooru, Kokernag, Shangus, Bijbehara and Pahalgam. The Election Commission of India had curtailed the polling duration for Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency by two hours from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in wake of the security situation.
Giving assembly segment wise details, election officials said that Anantnag recorded 3.47%, Bijbehara 2.04%, Dooru 17.28%. Kokernag 19.52%, Shangas 15.10% and Pahalgam 20.37%.
The number of people eligible to vote in Lok Sabha polls for Anantnag district stood at 5,29,256 including 269603 males, 257540 females, 2102 service electors (2091 male and 11 female) and 11 transgender voters. For smooth polling, the ECI had 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. 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.
