Lok Sabha election 2019: Anantnag turnout dips to 13.6%

A policeman stands guard as people wait in queues to cast their votes outside a polling station during the third phase of general election in Verinag in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Tuesday, April 23, 2019.

The voter turnout in the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency was 13.61% on Tuesday, with Bijbehara, home town of Peoples Democratic Party candidate Mehbooba Mufti, recording just around 2%.

“A total of 71,923 votes were polled out of the 5.27 lakh electorate in the third phase in Kashmir valley,” J&K Chief Electoral Officer Shailendra Kumar said.

Once considered bastions of the PDP, the Bijbehara and the Anantnag Assembly segments recorded between 2% and 4% polling. Scores of polling booths registered zero turnout.

None of the six Assembly segments — Anantnag, Dooru, Kokernag, Shangus, Bijbehara and Pahalgam — recorded more than 18% polling.

Ms. Mufti, who voted in the afternoon, said, “This time my father is not with me. I hope the workers of my father will ensure my victory in this election.” She defeated a Congress candidate in the 2014 polls by 12,000 votes when turnout was 39.37%. The Congress has reason to smile, as the party’s strongholds in Dooru (17.28%), Kokernag (16.88%) and Shangus (15.1%) witnessed relatively better turnouts.