Kashmiri Pandit candidates, who are contesting on BJP tickets, said they had no time to meet voters but decided to contest “to give competition to the Congress.” (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
At 1.1 per cent, Anantnag, the home turf of former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, recorded the lowest voting percentage on Wednesday.
As polling closed at 4 pm, 368 of total 32,908 registered voters had exercised their franchise. Sixteen of Anantnag Municipal Committee’s 25 wards voted today, including ward 16, where only one vote was cast through the day.
The low turnout was fuelled by anger against Mufti, and the PDP’s decision to ally with the BJP. A group of women voters at Government College for Women told The Indian Express, “We have never seen her (Mufti) here since the election. First, Mufti-sahab (her father, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed) and now her — forgot about the people who voted for them…. The Muftis shook hands with the BJP and forgot about us.”
The voters did not wish to be identified. A first-time voter in Ashajipora said that a lot of anger against the government was fuelled by the PDP’s decision to form a coalition with the BJP, which was seen as “betrayal, especially by the people of Anantnag,” Another youth, Saifullah, 21, added, “A lot of people my age will not vote for this reason.”
Kashmiri Pandit candidates, who are contesting on BJP tickets, said they had no time to meet voters but decided to contest “to give competition to the Congress.” Shadi Lal Bhat, a BJP candidate from SK Colony who lives in Jammu and is not registered as a voter in the ward, told The Indian Express, “We don’t want to give the Congress a free run, there are just about 100 migrant votes in this ward but we still decided to contest.”
A voter named Riyaz Ahmad said that despite “failures” of past governments he wants to give a chance to those “brave” enough to contest the polls despite threats and boycotts. “If they are putting their lives on the line, it is up to us to encourage them. After all, these are people who will remain accessible to us whether or not there is a government in the state,” he said.