Saturday 18th Jul, 2026
Campaigning ends in 2nd of 3 phase polling in Anantnag PC
Anantnag, Apr 27: Lackluster campaigning in second of three phase polling in Kulgam district came to an end on Saturday evening in Anantnag Parliamentary Constituency (PC), where first phase witnessed about 14 per cent polling in six of the 16 assembly segments in the first phase on April 23.
The third and final phase of polling in the constituency in be held on May 6.
An official spokesman said over 3.45 lakh electors are going to exercise their franchise in Kulgam district in the second leg of three-phased schedule for Anantnag Parliamentary Constituency on April 29.
Former Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, president of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Congress state president G A Mir, Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi of National Conference (NC) and Sofi Yousuf are among 18 candidates seeking mandate in the constituency.
Article 370, 35 A, highway ban, NIA and ED action against separatists, businessmen and ban on Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) were among the main issued raised by the contesting candidates, particularly PDP, NC and Congress. Senior leaders of different political parties managed to address election rallies under unprecedented security arrangements.
The district is spread over four assembly segments comprising Noorabad, Kulgam, Hom ShaliBugh and Devsar. The South Kashmir district has 345,486 electors including 164,604 females, 1262 service electors (1254 male and 8 female) and 13 transgender voters. For smooth polling, the ECI has set up 433 polling stations across the district.
The candidates in the fray are Hasnain Masoodi of NC, Sofi Yousuf of BJP, Ghulam Ahmad Mir of Congress, Mehbooba Mufti of PDP, Nisar Ahmad Wani of National Panthers Party, Choudhary Zaffar Ali of People’s Conference, Sanjay Kumar Dhar of Manav Adhikar Party, Surinder Singh of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) and Imtiyaz Ahmad Rather, Ridwana Sanam, Riyaz Ahmad Bhat, Zubair Masoodi, Shams Khwaja, Ali Mohammad Wani, Ghulam Mohammad Wani, Kyasir Ahmed Sheikh, Manzoor Ahmad Khan and Mirza Sajad Hussain Beigh, all independents.
Kulgam Assembly segment has the highest number of 98,298 voters, including 455 service voters and 4 transgender voters) while as Noorabad has the lowest 77,171 electors, including 188 service voters and 4 transgender voters.
Assembly segment of Devsar has 91288 voters , including 492 service voters and five transgender voters), and HS Bugh segment has 78669 voters including 127 service voters).
Anantnag district of Anantnag PC went to polls in the third phase on April 23.
The parliamentary constituency is spreading over four districts comprising Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama.
The voting timing has been fixed from 0700 hrs to 1600 hrs in the district.
UNI