ANANTNAG: Defying militant threat and separatist boycott call, about 37 per cent polling was recorded in Kulgam and Anantnag districts, followed by 20.43 in Shopian in Anantnag Parliamentary constituency, where threat perception kept voters away in Pulwama district till 1700 hrs.
The constituency, spread over 16 Assembly segments in four districts of Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag, had 12.72 lakh eligible voters to elect their representative from among 12 candidates.
Security forces burst teargas shells and fired in the air at several places to disperse anti-poll demonstrators in different parts of the constituency, particularly in Pulwama and Shopian districts.
Stone pelting and anti-poll demonstrations were also witnessed at some places in the constituency, despite unprecedented security arrangments to provide a secure atmosphere to voters to cast their ballots, following boycott call by separatist organisations and recent killings of sarpanch and panch besides appearing of posters from militant organisations, directing people to remain away from polling.
However, the polling, which started at 0700 hrs this morning with hardly any voter visible, later picked up as the day progressed, though it was less as compared to last elections.In number of polling booths at Pulwama district, very less number of votes were polled.
An official spokesman said 36.76 per cent votes were polled in Anantnag district till 1700 hrs.
This was followed by 36.68 per cent in Kulgam, 20.43 per cent in Shopian and lowest 6.32 per cent in Pulwama, where poll boycott call by separatist and killing of sarpanch and panch kept the voters away.
Officials however expressed hope that the polling will pick up pace as the day progresses.
The separatist organisations have called for a general strike today in south Kashmir besides asked people not to cast their votes. Recently, eight people, including two police jawans, two Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) and sarpanchs and panchs were killed in Pulwama district.
There is also threat perception as posters have recently surfaced at some places in the constituency threatening people against voting.
However, the opposition PDP alleged that NC was behind the violence to force election boycott to get benefit.
Altogether, there are 1,615 polling stations in the constituency. Of these, 690 polling stations have been bracketed as hypersensitive, 659 sensitive while just 266, mostly in remote areas are normal.
There are 12.72 lakh voters, including 6,01,688 women in the constituency, where NC has again fielded Dr Mehboob Beigh, who won the seat in 2009.
There are 12 candidates seeking mandate from the constituency. However, the main contest is between Mehbooba Mufti of PDP and Dr Mehboob Baigh of NC.
The other parties, including BJP, too have fielded Mushtaq Ahmad Malik, National Panther Party (NPP) Syed Abid Ahmad Shah and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Dr Tariq Maqbool Dar. It was Congress candidate Mohammad Shafi Qureshi who represented the seat when he was elected unopposed in 1967. However, before that members were nominated to Lok Sabha from the State.
Qureshi later shifted to National Conference (NC) of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad and represented the constituency again in 1971. This was the time when NC headed by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was staying away from election process, demanding plebiscite after his arrest in 1953 when he was dislodged as prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir by then Congress Government headed by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.
However, he again switched over to Congress and made a hat-trick winning from the constituency in 1977. But after Indira-Sheikh accord in 1975, NC candidates Ghulam Rasool Kochak, Begum Akbar Jehan, wife of Sheikh Abdullah and PL Handoo represented the constituency in 1980, 1984 and 1989 respectively.
In 1996, when leaders of mainstream parties, including NC and Congress, were away from the valley due to militancy, an independent candidate Mohammad Maqbool Dar won from the seat and later joined the ruling party and become minister of State.
In 1998, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as Congress candidate got elected while Ali Mohammad Naik of NC represented the seat in 1999.
Though there are 12 candidates in the fray, the main contest will be between Dr Beigh and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who represented the constituency in 2004. (AGENCIES)
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