Polling in the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat of Jammu and Kashmir will take place in three phases – the first time that polling for a single seat will be held in multiple phases, according to IANS.
The Election Commission announced on Sunday that voting to elect the 17th Lok Sabha will take place in seven phases between April 11 and May 19. The votes will be counted on May 23. Polling for Jammu and Kashmir’s six Lok Sabha seats will take place in five phases.
“We will have to carry out three phases of election for just one constituency of Anantnag,” Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora said while explaining why the Assembly polls would not be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections. “So you can imagine how complicated it is.”
In the first phase on April 11, voting will be held in Baramulla and Jammu constituencies. Srinagar and Udhampur constituencies will vote in the second phase on April 18. Polling in Anantnag will be held on April 23, April 29 and May 6, while Ladakh will go to polls on May 6.
The Anantnag constituency covers four volatile districts of south Kashmir – Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama – and has been the centre of pro-separatist politics since 2016, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen’s Burhan Wani, the Telegraph reported. Pulwama witnessed the latest terror attack, when a Jaish-e-Mohammad operative rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into an Army convoy on February 14, killing 40 Central Reserve Police Force jawans.
The Anantnag constituency was represented by Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. She vacated the seat when she became the chief minister following the death of her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2016. Bye-elections scheduled for May 2017 were deferred after violence in Srinagar left nine people dead.
Congress spokesperson Salman Anees Soz described the multi-phase polling as “quite unusual”. “We could not hold elections in Anantnag for such a long time. This time holding elections in Anantnag in three phases!” he said in a tweet. “Central/state government mismanagement is clear.”
While the Election Commission also announced dates for Assembly elections in four states whose governments’ tenures are coming to an end in the coming three months, it did not give dates for Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, on account of security reasons. The decision was criticised by National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, who described it as a sign of the Union government’s “sinister designs”.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!