Home turf of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti saw 40 polling stations with zero votes

Home turf of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, the Bijbehara assembly segment under the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, reported highest concentration of polling stations where zero votes were cast.

Among the 65 booths in Anantnag where zero votes were cast, 40 were located in Bijbehara, one of the six assembly constituencies where voting took place in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections Tuesday.

People cast their votes in 714 polling stations in Anantnag.

Read: Polling Begins On Dull Note In Jammu And Kashmir's Anantnag

Bijbehara, the home constituency of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, had 120 polling booths set up for a population of 93,289 people.

A total of 1,893 electorate or 2 per cent exercised their franchise when the polling ended at 4 pm. The voting time for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat was reduced in view of security considerations.

• The Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, where voting took place in the first phase, saw 17 polling stations with zero while the Srinagar Parliamentary seat, which went to polls in the second phase, recorded zero votes in 90 booths.
• Polling in Anantnag, which has 16 assembly seats, has been divided into three phases. The first phase was completed on Tuesday while remaining two will be held on April 29 and May 6.

The decision for staggered polling was taken keeping in view the security situation in South Kashmir which has seen many encounters between security forces and militants.

Read: Mehbooba Mufti Attacked With Stones In Kashmir's Anantnag District, PDP Leader's Driver Suffers Injury. Details Here

A week ago, stones were pelted on PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti's convoy in Anantnag during her return from a shrine at Khirram in Anantnag district to pay her obeisance and was returning to Bijbehara when the incident took place, officials notified. 

It was reported that one of the spare vehicles in the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister's motorcade was damaged in the stone-throwing and the driver was hurt, while others in the entourage, including the PDP president, escaped unhurt.

(With inputs from PTI)