Srinagar: Voting in Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir continued at a brisk pace and till 1 pm, over 35 per cent of the 18.36 lakh voters had exercised their franchise.
Rajouri Assembly constituency recorded the highest polling of 52.74 per cent followed by Nowshera which recorded 47.31 per cent, officials said here. They said Anantnag, Anantnag-West and Kulgam Assembly constituencies are the only two areas where less than 25 per cent polling has been recorded so far.
“Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency recorded 35.22 per cent polling till 1 pm,” an election department official here said. Barring one incident in Bijbehara, polling was going on smoothly across the constituency, he said. The constituency comprises over 18 assembly segments from five districts – Kulgam, Anantnag, Poonch, Shopian and Rajouri.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti is contesting from Anantnag-Rajouri seat and is pitted against National Conference (NC) leader Mian Altaf Ahmed. Her party’s Zafar Iqbal Manhas is also among the 20 candidates contesting from this seat.
Voting for this seat began at 7 am and will end at 6 pm. Around 29 per cent voting was recorded till 1 pm in the 11 assembly constituencies falling under the Kashmir Valley. However, due to the changing scenario and inclusion of Poonch and Rajouri areas in the constituency, the voting percentage is expected to be much higher than the last election.