Around 21 per cent of the Srinagar constituency's electorate turned up to vote in the Lok Sabha ele1ctions on April 26, according to Chief Electoral Officer B L Nimesh.
In the eight voting segments that made up the Srinagar city, the percentage of voters was nil to extremely low while the rural segments of this prestigious constituency saw a moderate turnout.
Pro-secessionist Kashmiri leaders had given a boycott call, which clearly rang through the state's capital city and also the surrounding areas that together comprise the Srinagar constituency with a population of 1.25 million.
"We have been waiting for voters, but no one came to vote in this polling station. I doubt anyone will come now," said Abdul Rashid, a poll official in a locality in downtown Srinagar.
People in some villages in Beerwa constituency in Budgam claimed that they were forced by the security forces to vote.
But villagers in the rural segments of Ganderbal, Kangan, Khansahib, Chadoora, and Charar-e-Sharief queued up early in the morning to cast their votes.
Security agencies and election authorities had been keeping their fingers crossed after a string of attacks by militants overnight, but what came as a pleasant surprise to them was that despite moderate to very low voter turnout, the day remained incident free except for a rifle grenade attack in Ichigam village in central Kashmir. One woman was wounded in the attack.
Even as 10 electronic voting machines malfunctioned, their timely replacement could not appreciably help the voting percentage since few city dwellers ventured out of their homes.
"We will not vote. These elections have so far failed to restore normalcy in Kashmir. The issue should be resolved peacefully," said Mohammad Ramzan, a downtown Srinagar resident basking leisurely under the spring sun on a deserted pavement along with a group of people.
Trying to take advantage of the deserted polling stations in his voting segment Khanyar in downtown Srinagar, National Conference assembly legislator and chief polling agent of Omar Abdullah, Ali Mohammad Sagar decided to try his luck at the machines along with his band of supporters. In the bargain, he landed up in a local police station, embarrassing his party that had only this morning accused the People's Democratic Party that governs the state of organizing mobile voters in its favour.
"Sagar was arrested by the police and we have registered a case against him. He along with 40 persons were involved in bogus voting," said the state director general of police Gopal Sharma.
The day came handy for cricket enthusiasts in Srinagar city where roads were converted into makeshift pitches over which the tense balls bounced ferociously generating some life in an otherwise deserted situation.
The authorities had made extensive security arrangements with dozens of mobile vehicle and bulletproof jeeps patrolling the city ostensibly to frustrate militant attempts to disrupt the polls.
At the end of the day, Srinagar residents attempted to stone the authorities carting out the electronic voting machines, forcing the police to lob teargas shells and forcefully disperse the mobs.
More reports from Jammu and Kashmir
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