Srinagar, May 7 (IANS) Polling began on a dull note in Jammu and Kashmir's prestigious Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency Thursday morning with very few people coming out to cast their votes.
Polling stations were thrown open to voters in the 15 assembly segments spread over the three districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal and Badgam at 7 a.m.. But there were no long queues.
However, poll officials were hopeful that polling would pick up as the day progressed.
The main contestants for this seat are Farooq Abdullah, former chief minister and patron of the ruling National Conference (NC), and Molvi Ifftekhar Hussain Ansari, senior Shia leader and the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate.
Though the separatists have called for a 50-hour shutdown and poll boycott here, there were no reports of any untoward incident from anywhere in the constituency.
Authorities have placed all senior separatist leaders, including the hardline Syed Ali Geelani, moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik, under house arrest.
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