Over to voters in Anantnag

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, April 21

Campaigning ended for the first phase of polling in the sensitive Anantnag constituency on Sunday.

Three major players — the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Congress and National Conference (NC) — made last-ditch efforts to woo voters in different parts of the district.

The seat will witness a triangular contest between PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, Congress’ Ghulam Ahmad Mir and NC’s Hasnain Masoodi, a retired judge.

Polling, amid unprecedented security measures, will be held on April 23. The seat, constituted on four districts of south Kashmir, has been divided into three phases with Kulgam going to polls on April 29 and Shopian and Pulwama on May 4. The unparalleled step to divide the seat into three phases was taken by the Election Commission of India (EC) in the wake of the volatile security situation in south Kashmir.

The prevailing situation in the region has resulted in a dull election campaign for the first phase with parties holding only workers’ meetings and that too in highly secure zones or areas comparatively militancy-free.

The campaign ended on Sunday on a similar note with PDP president Mehbooba Mufti addressing a couple of rallies in Verinag and Kokerang areas of the district and NC president Omar Abdullah addressing a rally in the Aishmuqam area of the district.

At a party workers’ meet, Mehbooba continued her tirade against the BJP and Congress, accusing the parties of holding ‘national interests’ dearer than the interests of Kashmir.

Mehbooba said, “This election is not about amenities, it is about protecting our identity. We will have to bear that in mind.”

During its poll campaign, the NC attacked the PDP over its “failures” and promised to protect the special status of the state at any cost.

Congress candidate Mir has been saying that the people of south Kashmir were fed up of the PDP and Mehbooba Mufti and needed to rise to the occasion “to defeat the betrayal and political exploitation by the PDP and other opportunist parties”.

EC is weak: Omar

Omar Abdullah on Sunday criticised the Election Commission (EC) for not being “independent enough”. “The EC has been weak. They have not taken any action against the Prime Minister and some BJP leaders who have been invoking religion and national security in their campaigns,” Omar told reporters in south Kashmir after he was asked about Modi’s statement regarding the release of Wing Commander Abhinandan from Pakistan captivity.