Amid heightened security measures, polling will be held in Anantnag district first in the three-phased schedule for Anantnag parliamentary constituency on Tuesday.
The election commission of India has revised the polling timing from 7 am to 4 pm. According to an official spokesperson, the district is spread over six assembly segments comprising Anantnag, Dooru, Kokernag, Shangus, Bijbehara and Pahalgam.
Massive security arrangements have been made in the district which has been reeling under protests and shutdowns since past three years in the aftermath of the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani who was gunned down in an encounter in 2016.
The killing pushed Kashmir into a new cycle of bloodshed and violence with more than 600 militants and civilians killed by forces during counter insurgency operations and retaliatory action against protesters.
The J&K government spokesperson said the south Kashmir district has 529256 electors including 269603 males, 257540 females, 2102 service electors (2091 male and 11 female) and 11 transgender voters.
“For smooth polling, the ECI has setup 714 polling stations in the district,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Officials said the candidates in the fray are Hasnain Masoodi of Jammu Kashmir National Conference, Sofi Yousuf of Bhartiya Janta Party, Ghulam Ahmad Mir of Indian National Congress, Mehbooba Mufti of Jammu Kashmir People’s Democratic Party, Nisar Ahmad Wani of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, Ch. Zaffar Ali of Jammu Kashmir People’s Conference, Sanjay Kumar Dhar of Manav Adhikar Party, Surinder Singh of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) and Imtiyaz Ahmad Rather, Ridwana Sanam, Riyaz Ahmad Bhat, Zubair Masoodi, Shams Khwaja, Ali Mohammad Wani, Ghulam Mohammad Wani, Kyasir Ahmed Sheikh, Manzoor Ahmad Khan and Mirza Sajad Hussain Beigh, all of whom are independents.
“Kokernag Assembly segment has the highest number of 93874 voters (48742 males, 44948 females and 180 service voters) while as Dooru has the lowest 79029 electors, including 40764 males, 37889 females and 374 service voters,” the spokesperson said.
“Assembly segment of Bijbehara has 93516 voters (47067 males, 46222 females and 227 service voters), Shangus 89405 voters (45360 males, 43010 females and 1031 service voters), Pahalgam 86735 (44115 males, 42498 females and 121 service voters) and Anantnag 86699 (43555 males, 42973 females and 169 service voters),” the spokesperson added.
“Bijbehara assembly segment has highest number of 46225 female voters where as Shangus has a total of 1031 service electors which are highest in the district,” the spokesperson added in the statement.