Srinagar: Voter turnout was dismal in the first six hours in the only two places in the Kashmir Valley where municipal polls were held Tuesday, officials said.
Ganderbal district reported 7.91 per cent polling and Srinagar, the state’s summer capital and the urban hub of a dragging separatist campaign, just over 2 per cent.
In Soura area in Srinagar, protesters hurled rocks and stones at security forces deployed for election duty, officials said.
A total of 241,043 voters are eligible to vote in the 24 wards of Srinagar Municipal Corporation and 8,491 in the 12 wards of Ganderbal Municipal Committee on the fourth and final day of urban civic polls in the state.
Voters trickled into the polling stations in ones and twos in the first six hours in Srinagar.
Early morning rain accompanied by chilly winds hampered the process further. There has only been only around 40 per cent turnout in the last three phases on October 8, 10 and 13.
Re-polling was on at one polling station in Srinagar. Voting will end at 4 p.m.
There are 156 candidates in the fray for the two urban local bodies, State Chief Electoral Officer Shaleen Kabra said.
Mobile Internet services have been suspended in both districts. There are 38 candidates in Ganderbal and 113 in Srinagar.
Municipal polls were last held in the state in 2005. Vote count will take place on October 20.
IANS
