Anantnag gears up for byelection

ANANTNAG: Major political parties are engaged in the lastminute efforts to woo voters even as the ruling Peoples Democratic Party PDP president and JK Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is the main contestant in the byelection to the Anantnag Assembly constituency scheduled for June 22

Updated At : 06:05 AM Jun 19, 2016 IST

Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Anantnag, June 17

Major political parties are engaged in the last-minute efforts to woo voters, even as the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is the main contestant in the byelection to the Anantnag Assembly constituency scheduled for June 22.

As the life moves on in this main town of south Kashmir, electioneering has picked up amid the holy month of Ramazan and paddy plantation in summer. “The holy month and paddy plantation by farmers along the periphery of this town have left the mood subdued,” said a resident of the Lal Chowk market here. The men on the streets feel that the parties have not been mobilising the voters during this bypoll as is done during main elections. The byelection has been necessitated due to the death of former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who represented this constituency for the two last consecutive terms.

The only major pointer to the electioneering here are rows of party flags, buntings and posters along the Khanabal-Pahalgam (KP) road leading to the town from the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway about 50 km from Srinagar. These are also seen dotting the main markets in the town and the roads leading to other tourist spots of Verinag and Kokernag. Except for the road show held by Mehbooba on June 11 and an election rally by the opposition National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday, there has not been much poll related activity. The officials here said that 13 important rallies have been held as a part of the “vibrant democratic activity”.

However, the focus of the administration is on the security and law & order situation in the backdrop of two recent militancy related incidents. Three BSF men were killed when suspected militants attacked their convoy at the nearby township of Bijbehara while two policemen were killed in another attack near General Bus Stand, Anantnag on June 3 and 4.

“Elaborate security arrangements are in place in view of sensitivity of the situation and law and order issues. These will ensure that the voters are able to cast their votes in a very peaceful and in a free and fair environment,” said Syed Abid Shah, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag. “We have also taken on board all the stakeholders, including the parties, so that the entire process takes place in a transparent, effective and efficient manner”, he told The Tribune.

Of the 102 polling stations at 63 locations across the constituency, 52 have been categorised as 'hyper-sensitive' while 50 others are 'sensitive,' while no polling station is normal from the security point of view. Around 85,000 voters in the town and 4,223 migrant Kashmiri Pandit voters would decide the fate of Mehbooba, National Conference candidate, Iftikhar Hussain Misger, Congress candidate Hilal Ahmad Shah and five independents -- Tejinder Singh, Mujieb-ur-Rehman, Masroor Ahmad Mir, Mushtaq Ahmad Shah and Manzoor Ahmad Khan. As many as 20 polling stations have been identified for migrant voters in Udhampur, Jammu and Delhi.

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HIGHLIGHTS

• Over 85,000 voters in Anantnag and 4223 migrant voters in Udhampur, Jammu and Delhi to decide the fate of Mehbooba Mufti and seven other candidates on June 22.

• Of the 102 polling stations, 52 categorised as 'hyper-sensitive' and 50 as 'sensitive.'

• Counting of votes on June 25.

• 20 polling stations to have webcasting, and five polling stations to have complete videography for transparent polling.