Brisk polling in Anantnag-Rajouri, 35.22% turnout till 1.00 pm

Srinagar: More than 35 percent of the 18.36 lakh electorate in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency of Jammu and Kashmir exercised their franchise on Saturday till 1.00 pm, officials said here.

They said Rajouri assembly segment recorded the highest turnout of 52.74 percent while Noweshera recorded a poll percentage of 47.31.

Anantnag, Anantnag-West and Kulgam assembly segments were the only three areas where the voter turnout so far was below 25 per cent, the officials said.

“The voter turnout in Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency at 1.00 pm was 35.22 per cent,” an official of the election department here 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, Poonch 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 1.00 pm was around 29 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.