Militants killed a polling officer on Thursday as 28 per cent turnout was recorded in the volatile South Kashmir parliamentary constituency where boycott call by separatists laid a visible impact on the voting pattern.
Amid tight security, dozens of incidents of stone-pelting, aerial firing by the police and security forces took place as the entire area spread over four districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam observed shutdown.The polling was initially sluggish throughout the constituency but picked up in the afternoon in many assembly segments. The Tral segment in Pulwama where suspected militants killed three persons ahead of polls recorded the lowest turnout.
Chief Electoral Officer Umang Narula said that 28 percent voters exercised their franchise, a marginal increase in the 2009 turnout of 27.1 per cent. He refrained to link the lower turnout to separatists’ boycott call saying the analysis of the voting pattern would specify the reasons. He said Pulwama district recorded the lowest of 6.32 per cent turnout while Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag districts recorded 20.43, 36.68 and 37.26 per cent respectively.
The main contest in Anantnag segment if between Opposition PDP’s candidate Mehbooba Mufti with sitting MP and ruling coalition’s candidate Mehboob Beg even as 10 other aspirants for the seat were in the fray.Observers say that the poll result would be surprising as low turnout in the constituency has depleted the chances for Mufti, who was considered as favourite in the backdrop of PDP’s sway in most of the assembly segments. Out of 16 segments, PDP is occupying 12 seats, the Congress two and CPM and ruling NC one each.
The authroties declared around 81 per cent of 1,600 polling stations as sensitive or hypersensitive depending on the threat perception. The region has a large number of active militants, both local and foreign, with most of them in Pulwama and Shopian districts.Many polling booths in Pampore and Tral pockets wrapped up the process without recording any vote. All major towns in the region recorded the lowest turnout.The situation turned uglier when militants attacked a polling party in Nagbal village where one polling staff was killed and five other injured. The security personnel also beat up a group of journalists during coverage in Kulgam district.