58 percent turnout in third phase of Jammu & Kashmir polls , Third phase polling %, J&K third phase polling %, J&K polling %, third phase of J&K polls
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- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 21:15
58 percent turnout in third phase of Jammu & Kashmir polls
SRI NAGAR: (IANS) The third phase of polling for 16 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday recorded 58 percent voter turnout, while in Jharkhand, the polling percentage for 17 assembly constituencies was 61 percent, Election Commission officials said. The turnout in Kashmir was up from 52.13 percent recorded in 2009, Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi said.
In Kashmir, the three districts of Baramulla, Budgam and Pulwama saw polling percentages of 57, 70 and 43, respectively. "Polling was peaceful and there was no untoward incident," Zutshi said.The overall cash seizure for the third phase was Rs. 91.81 lakh. Also Read: J&K Third phase polling % updates
Large queues of voters could be seen in the only polling station in Mohura, Uri, a kilometre away from the Army camp which was attacked by militants on Friday. Eight soldiers, three policemen and six militants were killed in the six-hour-long gunfight. The polling station had recorded 25 percent voting till 11 am. Muhammad Ashraf, a villager, said: “Ours is a peaceful area. We don’t know how the militant attack took place. For us, development is the main issue, not the militant attack.”
In the three polling booths in separatist hardliner Syed Ali Geelani’s hometown Doru, only three votes were cast. At booth no. 67 (A), none of the 781 registered voters exercised his or her franchise till 3 pm. At booth no 68 (B), only one of the 889 voters voted, while two of the 797 registered voters at booth no 69 (C) and (B) turned out to vote. The hometown of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, who was hanged last February, also saw a low voter turnout. Five constituencies in central Kashmir’s Budgam district witnessed brisk-to-heavy polling, with people waiting in long queues to cast their votes.
Moderate-to-brisk polling took place in Baramulla, Rafiabad, Sopore, Pattan, Sangrama and Tangmarg constituencies. The separatists’ call for boycotting the polls had some effect in certain pockets of the Sopore town and the Baramulla township as well. The voter turnout in the volatile Sopore Assembly seat, considered a stronghold of Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, witnessed 30 per cent polling.