Among the districts, Reasi witnessed the highest poll percentage of 74.14, followed by Poonch at 73.78% and Rajouri at 69. 85%, Ganderbal 62.63%, Budgam 61.31% and Srinagar 29. 24%…reports Asian Lite News
Enthusiastic voters swarmed most polling booths since the morning across 26 Assembly segments of Jammu & Kashmir on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) and registered a voter turnout of more than 56% till 7 p.m., according to the Election Commission of India (EC).
“There has not been any incident that a repoll is required. There were 3,502 polling stations and no polling booth had a voting percentage in single digits. In Srinagar, the polling percentage exceeded the Lok Sabha figures by over 5%,” J&K Chief Electoral Officer P.K. Pole said.
“The poll was peaceful overall. As per the figures, 56.79 voter turnout was recorded till now,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer PK Pole told reporters on Wednesday evening.
Among the districts, Reasi witnessed the highest poll percentage of 74.14, followed by Poonch 73.78 pc, Rajouri 69. 85 pc, Ganderbal 62. 63 pc, Budgam 61.31 pc and Srinagar 29. 24 pc.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was among the key candidates fighting from the two constituencies – Budgam and Ganderbal. The other contenders included Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra.
Polling was conducted across six districts of Budgam, Ganderbal, Poonch and Jammu regions of Rajouri, Reasi and Srinagar, with 25.78 lakh electors eligible to cast votes to decide fate of 239 candidates in the second phase. The first phase of assembly polls was held on September 18.
CEC Rajiv Kumar along with ECs Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had maintained a constant supervision of the polling process to ensure that the polling took place in an incident free manner.
Earlier in the day, interacting with media at Nirvachan Sadan, CEC Rajiv Kumar said that these elections are “history in the making”, the echoes of which will be carried through posterity.
He added that the valleys and the mountains which had once witnessed fear and boycott, are now taking part in the democratic festivities or “Jashn-e-Jamhuriyat”.
Strong security measures were in place creating a conducive environment for voters to cast their vote without fear or intimidation. Webcasting was in place in all polling stations to ensure transparency of the voting process. While demonstrating the visuals emerging live from the Polling Stations in Jammu & Kashmir, CEC Kumar lauded the voters seen patiently waiting for their turn to vote at the Polling Stations and said that it is a resounding statement of their belief in democracy.
Some of the seats that went to the polls had in the past seen threats of poll boycott from separatist elements.
The poll panel said in a release that overall voter turnout recorded in these six districts that went for polls in Phase 2 has also surpassed the turnout recorded in Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
“Voting took place in a tranquil atmosphere free of fear and intimidation. Voters inhabiting the areas near the border were also empowered to exercise their franchise at 55 border polling stations set up near the LoC in 89 Poonch Haveli and 90 Mendhar AC in Poonch district and 51 such polling stations in Rajouri district. These border polling stations saw voting today in line with the Commission’s resolve to bring even the remotest corners of the country into the democratic fold,” the release added.
Rahul vows to fight for J&K’s statehood
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday reiterated that the opposition will use its full force to pressurise Centre to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
Addressing a public rally in Sopore, the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition said that for the first time in history, a state was downgraded into a ‘union territory’ and injustice was served to the people of the territory and the INDIA bloc will fight for its restoration.
“We wanted that the statehood be restored before elections. All the people of Jammu and Kashmir wanted the elections to take place after the restoration of the statehood. The first and foremost issue is regarding your statehood. Several UTs have been made states, and states have been bifurcated. But this is the first time in history that a state has been turned into a Union Territory. It did not happen, the first step is election. But after this, the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir has to be restored,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“INDIA Alliance will pressurise PM Modi in the Parliament for this. If they don’t do this, then we will restore your statehood as soon as the INDIA bloc forms the government at the centre. If we want this apple to reach America and Japan, statehood has to be restored,” Rahul Gandhi added.
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