Brisk polling in Anantnag-Rajouri, 23% turnout till 11 am

Srinagar: Brisk polling is underway in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency with more than 23 per cent of the 18.36 lakh electorate exercising their franchise till 11.00 am, with the Rajouri assembly segment recording the highest 34.93 per cent, officials said here.

Anantnag and Kulgam assembly segments were the only two areas where the voter turnout so far was below 15 per cent, the officials said.

They said that barring an isolated incident in Bijbehara, polling was going on smoothly across the Lok Sabha constituency which comprises 18 assembly segments and is spread over five districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Pooch and Rajouri.

In the delimitation exercise carried out in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022, Pulwama district and Shopian assembly segment were removed from the South Kashmir Lok Sabha seat while seven assembly segments from Poonch and Rajouri were added to it.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti is contesting the polls from Anantnag-Rajouri seat and is up against National Conference leader Mian Altaf Ahmad. Apni Party’s Zafar Iqbal Manhas is also among the 20 candidates in the fray.

The polling began at 7.00 am and will close at 6 pm in the constituency.

In the old Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency, the turnout in 2019 was around nine per cent while in 2014 it was close to 29 per cent.

In the 11 assembly segments falling in Kashmir valley, the poll percentage till 11.00 was around 19 per cent.

However, in the changing scenario, and with the inclusion of Poonch and Rajouri areas in the constituency, the turnout is expected to be much higher than the previous election.