The third and final phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls on Tuesday saw a voter turnout of 68.72 per cent, surpassing the Lok Sabha poll figure in the corresponding seven districts, with the traditional boycott bastions of Sopore and Baramulla recording the highest turnout in an election in the last three decades.
According to Election Commission (EC) data, the overall polling percentage in the three phases was 63.45 per cent.
Officials said the polling went off peacefully in all segments including special polling stations along the International Border and Line of Control (LoC) with no untoward incident reported from anywhere.
In the recently held parliamentary polls, the turnout in the seven districts that went to polls in the final phase on Tuesday was recorded at 66.78 per cent.
The turnout in Phases 1 and 2 was also higher than in the Lok Sabha elections.
While seven districts in Phase 1 recorded 61.38 per cent turnout, the figure was 60 per cent in the general elections. Similarly, six districts that went to polls in Phase 2 recorded 57.31 per cent polling as compared to 52.17 per cent turnout in the Lok Sabha polls, according to available data.
Sopore, once a terrorist and separatist stronghold, recorded the lowest turnout of 41.44 per cent but it was far better than the 2014 polls when the seat recorded 30.79 per cent voting, the EC data showed.
Baramulla, a traditional boycott bastion, recorded a 47.95 per cent turnout as against 39.73 per cent in 2014 while Pattan saw 60.87 per cent polling in comparison to 58.72 per cent recorded in the last assembly polls.
Remember this election is about self-respect, rights of J&K people: Rahul
October 1, 2024 10:54 am
Rahul Gandhi tells voters remember that this election is about their self-respect and rights. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appealed to the voters to "teach a lesson" to those who snatched statehood from them. In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "All voters are requested to come out of their homes in large numbers and vote for INDIA. Your every vote for INDIA will secure the foundation of the future of Jammu and Kashmir, and will give you the strength to fight for your rights." Kharge also called on the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their franchise. "As voting for the third phase of the Jammu and Kashmir elections commences, I urge the people in these 40 Assembly seats to exercise their Democratic rights in large numbers," the Congress president said on X.
11. 6 % voting recorded till 9 am
October 1, 2024 9:44 am
A collective percentage of 11.6% voter turnout has been recorded till 9:00 am in the first phase of Assembly elections in J&K, official data said.
J-K needs visionary govt that can take strong decisions on security, stability: Amit Shah
October 1, 2024 9:22 am
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the people of the Union Territory should exercise their franchise to form a government that would keep away terrorism, separatism, corruption and dynastic politics. Shah also said Jammu and Kashmir needed a government that was visionary and could take strong decisions for security, peace and stability. "Today, the people voting in Jammu and Kashmir in the last phase should use their power of vote to form a government that keeps Jammu and Kashmir away from terrorism, separatism, corruption and dynastic politics and is determined to protect the rights of every section," he said in a post in Hindi on X. The home minister asked the people to cast their vote for tourism, education, employment and all-round development in Jammu and Kashmir.
Ghulam Nabi Azad among early voters, urges people to exercise franchise
October 1, 2024 9:12 am
Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) chairman Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday appealed to voters to exercise their franchise in the third and last phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls. Azad, who was among the early voters here, also said that unemployment is the biggest issue in the union territory but it has not been given due attention by both regional and national parties. Azad cast his vote at Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Gandhi Nagar in the first hour of polling. "Every voter, whether male or female, elderly or young, should come out to vote because this election is happening after a long gap of 10 years... it is their choice who they want to vote for, which party or candidate, ... but they should vote," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said. Asked about West Pakistani refugees, Valmikis and the Gorkha community who are eligible to vote in the assembly elections for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, Azad said some issues have been there since 1947 and they were always used by different parties for their political gains. "There are current issues like statehood, Article 35A and growing unemployment, which is the biggest problem and is linked to every religion and the future of the youth," he said. No regional or national party has focused on the issue of unemployment as they should have during campaigning. On the possibility of the DPAP or someone else emerging as the kingmaker after the elections, Azad said that in a democracy, people are the real fountainheads and not the parties. "It is the people who vote you to power and let us leave it to the voters and see who they want to hand over the power to," he said.
PM Modi urges voters to come forward to make festival of democracy a success
October 1, 2024 9:04 am
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged voters to come forward and exercise their franchise in the third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections to make the festival of democracy a success. "Today is the third and last round of voting in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. I request all voters to come forward and cast their votes to make the festival of democracy a success," Modi said in a post in Hindi on X. "I am confident that apart from the young friends who are going to vote for the first time, women power will also participate in the voting in large numbers," the prime minister said.
16 assembly segments
October 1, 2024 9:04 am
The assembly segments in the region going to the polls are Baramulla, Uri, Rafiabad, Pattan, Gulmarg, Sopore, and Wagoora-Kreeri (Baramulla district), Kupwara, Karnah, Trehgam, Handwara, Lolab, and Langate (Kupwara district), and Bandipora, Sonawari, and Gurez (Bandipora district). A total of 202 candidates are in the fray in these 16 segments.
