Uri, the town close to the Line of Control in Baramulla in north Kashmir, on Saturday recorded 75. 3 per cent turnout in the penultimate phase of municipal and local body polls, while a mere 1.8 per cent voters showed up at the polling booths in Srinagar.
The turnout in Anantnag in south Kashmir was recorded at a scant 3.2 per cent.
As usual, the voter turnout in Jammu, where civic polls have been completed on Saturday, continued to be impressive, with 81.4 per cent people coming out to vote in Samba.
Voting in the Ladakh region was completed in the first phase itself. The fourth and the last phase of polls in Kashmir will be held on October 16. The counting votes will take place on October 20 in both Jammu and Kashmir.
Elections in the third phase were held in four districts of the state—three in Kashmir and one in Jammu —in which 365 candidates stood for elections in 96 wards. Forty-nine candidates have already been elected unopposed in the third phase.
Strict security arrangements were put in place in areas where polling booths were located. Police and paramilitary forces were deployed in the booths and outside.
The separatists had called for a strike in areas which went to polls on Saturday. In Srinagar, only private vehicles were playing in the polling areas. Shops and schools remained closed.
Junaid Matto, who quit the National Conference to contest civic polls, said boycott by the NC and the PDP was a wrong move. He pointed out that both parties have been in coalition with the BJP in the past.
Governor Satya Pal Malik, in a recent interview, had hinted about Matto becoming the mayor of Srinagar when he said a foreign educated young man could become the mayor of Srinagar.
The low turnout in Kashmir in all three phases has put a question mark over the credibility of the civic elections, being held after 11 years.
An overall poll percentage of 16.4 was recorded in the whole of state today with 3.4 per cent in Kashmir and 81.4 per cent casting their vote in Jammu.
