Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, June 17: Eight candidates including Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supremo and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti are trying their luck in the Anantnag Assembly segment which is going to polls on June 22.
Besides PDP, Congress and National Conference (NC), five Independents are also in the fray. While Congress has fielded Hilal Ahmed Shah, the NC’s Iftikar Hussian Misgar has also joined the fray. In addition to it there are five Independents including one Tejinder Singh from minority Sikh community.
However, there will be a triangular contest among the candidates of three main political parties i.e PDP, NC and Congress. The constituency has a total of 85604 voters as per the figures available with election authorities of the State.
Total 102 polling stations have been created for them in the entire constituency ,out of which 52 polling stations are hyper sensitive and 50 are sensitive. Due to prevailing militancy in the area, no polling booth has been classified as normal by the election authorities, according to official reports.
The polling will be held on June 22 from 7 am in the morning to 6 pm in the evening and authorities have made elaborate arrangements for smooth and peaceful polling in the Assembly segment the elections for which had become necessary after the death of former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed last year.
The counting of votes will take place on June 25 and the results will be available by the afternoon on the same day.
The Election authorities have already kept 514 polling staff at its disposal to hold elections and they have also been given the necessary training. Besides 102 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) have also been kept at the disposal of the polling staff and all these EVMs have been kept in strong room.
Official sources said to ensure smooth monitoring of elections and maintaining Model Code of Conduct during the elections the Constituency has been divided into two zones and one zone has been further divided into 12 sectors.
In addition to this, 20 special polling stations have been created for 3970 migrant voters outside the Valley. Out of them 15 polling stations have been kept in Jammu, one in Udhampur and four in Delhi to facilitate voting for Kashmiri migrants from the Constituency.
Sources said out of 102 polling stations 20 polling stations have been identified for web casting while five stations were identified for videography throughout the day.
Besides 20 Model polling stations have also been identified where basic minimum facilities can be provided to voters, sources added.
The Returning Officer will be assisted by three Assistant Returning Officers in Anantnag and one each at Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.
Sources said in view of the recent militant attacks in the constituency, the authorities have also made elaborate security arrangements for the poll. Though the task of conducting the election is challenging in this Assembly segment due to militancy, authorities are optimistic that every thing will go smooth.
Meanwhile, calling for speedy distribution of voter slips among the voters, Chief Electoral Officer Shantmanu asked the concerned for early completion of voter slips distribution process for the by-election of 40-Anantnag Assembly segment.
Chairing a meeting, the CEO said that distribution of voter slips would help the voters to cast their votes without any inconvenience on the polling day. He said that the voters should meet the BLO if they have not received their voter slips at home.
Shantmanu said that the summery revision of voter list was made in January 2016 and after continuous up-dation from the Month of January 1577 new voters were registered, saying that now total number of registered voters goes to 85604, of them 43512 are male and 42092 females.
The CEO was informed that the voter slip distribution process is going on and most of the areas of the constituency have been covered, adding that the rest of the areas would be covered at the earliest.
He said a complaint cell has also been established in the office of District Election Officer. If any one has any complaint regarding the poll process or violation of Model Code of Conduct, he/she may contact on Toll free Number, 18001807054, 01932-222291, fax:- 01932-223164 or be mailed at: District Election Officer, Anantnag:- syedabidrashid@gmail.com, anantnag@nic.in, Returning Officer, 40-Anantnag:-aslamkas786@gmail.com and Additional Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag:- ghsheikh786@gmail.com.
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