SRINAGAR: The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday said after a record polling percentage in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar and Baramulla, the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat too has “shattered” the voter-turnout record with 53 per cent voters exercising their franchise, the highest in 40 years.
With this, the three seats in the Kashmir valley — Srinagar (38.49 per cent), Baramulla (59.1 per cent) and Anantnag-Rajouri (53 per cent) — have
recorded the highest voter turnouts “in many decades”, the poll panel said.
This was the first major election in the Union Territory following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution by the Centre in August 2019.
The high voter turnout in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat was in sharp contrast to the poll percentage of 9 registered in the 2019 election.
Even the militancy-infested Zainapora Assembly segment, which registered a turnout of 2 per cent in 2019, recorded a poll percentage of 41.
Addressing reporters in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pandurang Kundbarao Pole said the voter turnout in Anantnag-Rajouri was 53 per cent.
He said the overall voter turnout for the five Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir stood at 58 per cent.
“It is the highest turnout for these five seats in the last 40 years. The previous high was 49 per cent recorded in 2014, while the turnout in 1996 was 47.99 per cent,” Pole added.
He said the Surankote, Rajouri and Budhal Assembly segments recorded the highest turnout of 68 per cent.
The Kulgam Assembly segment recorded the lowest poll percentage of 32.
Pole said the polling was by and large peaceful, with no violence reported from anywhere.
Officials said barring an isolated incident in Bijbehara, polling was smooth across the Lok Sabha constituency which comprises 18 Assembly segments and is spread over the five districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Poonch and Rajouri.
In a delimitation exercise carried out in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022, Pulwama district and the Shopian Assembly segment were removed from the south Kashmir Lok Sabha seat, while seven Assembly segments from Poonch and Rajouri were added to it.
Earlier in the day, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar told PTI Videos that encouraged by the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir, the EC will “very soon” initiate the process of holding Assembly polls in the Union Territory.
He also said the people of Jammu and Kashmir deserve their own government.
“People of Jammu and Kashmir, in the Anantnag-Rajouri polling too, have reposed faith in democracy and proved naysayers wrong,” the EC said in a statement.
According to the poll panel, the erstwhile Anantnag seat recorded the lowest turnout of 5.07 per cent in 1989 and 50.2 per cent in 1996.
Due to the delimitation exercise, the voter turnout data from previous elections for the current Anantnag-Rajouri seat may not be directly comparable, the EC noted.
A total of 20 candidates, including two women, were in the fray from Anantnag-Rajouri.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti contested the polls from Anantnag-Rajouri. She was up against the National Conference’s (NC) Mian Altaf Ahmad. Apni Party’s Zafar Iqbal Manhas was also among the 20 candidates in the fray.
In the 11 Assembly segments falling in the Kashmir valley, the poll percentage was around 42.
The EC had also enabled the Kashmiri migrant voters residing at various relief camps in Delhi, Jammu and Udhampur to have the option of voting in person at
the designated special polling stations or through postal ballots. A total of 21 special polling stations were set up in Jammu, one in Udhampur and four in Delhi.
Earlier, local news gatherer KNO reported:
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P.K. Pole announced on Saturday that the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat witnessed a remarkable 53 percent voter turnout, the highest in 35 years.
The previous highest was 50 percent in 1996. Overall, voter turnout across all five parliamentary seats in Jammu and Kashmir was 58 percent, surpassing the 49.58 percent recorded in 2014 and the 47.99 percent in 1996.
CEO Pole in a press conference here, expressed gratitude to the voters, polling staff, security personnel, and candidates for their roles in achieving this historic turnout. “The credit goes to the voters for making new records,” he stated, emphasizing the collective effort that made the electoral process a success.
Anantnag-Rajouri’s 53 percent turnout marks a significant increase from the dismal 9 percent in 2019. Surankote reported the highest turnout at 68 percent, while Kulgam and Anantnag saw lower participation with 32 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Migrant polling booths also recorded over 50 percent turnout, with 9,000 postal ballots cast.
A total of 9,000 polling staff were deployed in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency to facilitate the voting process. Across Jammu and Kashmir, the turnout percentages for the other constituencies were as follows: Baramulla at 59.10 percent, Srinagar at 39 percent, Udhampur at 68 percent, and Jammu at 72.22 percent.
With 11,600 polling stations set up across the Union Territory as per P.K Pole. Voting commenced at 7 a.m. on Saturday in the newly delimited Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat, amid stringent security measures across the entire area. The Election Commission had implemented robust arrangements, including satellite phones and special equipment at polling stations with poor mobile signals, to counter threats and contingencies, particularly from potential cross-border shelling in border regions.
This election, the last of five in Jammu and Kashmir, presented significant security challenges. The region has recently experienced four terrorist incidents in the Rajouri-Poonch area.
Election officials assured that comprehensive measures have been taken to ensure free, fair, and peaceful voting. The constituency spaned 18 assembly segments, with the Election Commission establishing 2,338 polling stations to accommodate over 18.36 lakh voters.
Out of 542 polling stations in Rajouri district, 278 were categorized as sensitive. Additionally, 45 polling stations were within the direct firing range from across the Line of Control (LoC). In Poonch district, 55 out of 171 polling stations are located along the LoC.
To safeguard voters in critical areas, the district administration had devised contingency plans. Rajouri DC confirmed that five villages lie between the LoC and the fencing.(KNO)
