Brisk voting in Ladakh, sluggish in Baramulla

Not a single vote had been cast during the first two hours in Baramulla town, where 11 polling stations have been clustered and clubbed by the poll authorities because of law and order problems in the old town area.

Baramulla town has been a strong bastion of the hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Geelani who has called for a boycott of the polls.

Voters, however, started trickling out in twos and threes in north Kashmir Kupwara and Handwara towns. Officials in these two towns said voter turnout would pick up as the day progresses.

In the border towns of Tangdhar and Gurez, voters had started coming out in respectable numbers to elect their representative for the 16th Lok Sabha.

Voter turnout was low in Pattan, Sopore, Sumbal and Hajin voting segments.

Low voter turnout was also seen in Watergam village of Baramulla district where an explosion occurred inside a school building Tuesday.