21 per cent voter turn out recorded in Anantnag till 3 PM

Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency in south Kashmir witnessed 21 per cent polling till 3 pm today, with Pulwama district recording a low voter turn-out of five per cent.

The constituency - spread over four districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian – witnessed a poll percentage of 21 per cent till 3 pm, officials said.

Anantnag district recorded 32.71 per cent of polling, while Kulgam recorded 30.47 per cent, an official spokesman said.

He said Pulwama recorded 5.01 per cent, while 16.80 per cent of total number of votes were polled in Shopian district.

The poll boycott call and the recent militant attacks on political workers have affected the voter turn-out mostly in Pulwama district.

Polling had to be briefly stopped at a polling station in Koil in Pulwama this morning after some persons pelted stones on the booth, prompting police to fire warning shots.No one was injured in the clashes and the polling at the station was resumed a short while later, officials said.

Although 12 candidates are in the fray for this Lok Sabha seat spread over 16 Assembly segments in the four districts, the contest is expected to be a direct fight between ruling National Conference candidate Mehboob Beg and opposition PDP President Mehbooba Mufti.

Of the 16 Assembly segments, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLAs represent 12, the Congress two and the National Conference (NC) and the CPI-M one each.