61% voters show up in peaceful Ph-1 J&K poll to ‘make their voices heard’

Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday voted for the first time in the Assembly elections after a gap of 10 years with the UT recording a turnout of more than 61 per cent in the first phase. Election officials said the polling passed off peacefully.

This was the first Assembly poll in the UT after the abrogation of Article 370. The voting was held in 16 Assembly segments in south Kashmir and eight in the Jammu region.

According to the poll officials, the highest voting of 80.14 per cent took place in Kishtwar district while Pulwama district in south Kashmir recorded the lowest polling of 46.65 per cent.

J&K Chief Electoral Officer PK Pole said no untoward incident was reported from any Assembly segment.

“The polling percentage in the four districts of south Kashmir — Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam — used to be low. However, in the recent Lok Sabha elections, it went up…,” said Pole, adding that this time, Shopian and Pulwama districts saw the highest voter turnout in seven elections. These four districts, which had voted under the fear of the gun amid a poll boycott call by separatists in the 2014 Assembly elections, for the first time, saw long queues outside polling stations without any fear or violence.

Several areas, which used to witness incidents of stone throwing, also saw people come out to cast their ballot.

For example, at a polling station in Bandzoo Pulwama in the Rajpora Assembly constituency, people started trickling in since morning to cast their vote. By 9.50 am, of the 991 voters, 111 had cast their ballot. “Had it been like the earlier (2014) elections, you may have been welcomed by stones, but this time, people are coming to vote as they have been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Fayaz Ahmad, a local resident, told The Tribune.

Pulwama district, which saw a voter turnout of 46.65 per cent, had recorded 44 per cent voting in 2014. As people came out to vote, they said their issues ranged from “getting their rights back” to development. They said they had come to elect candidates who could become their voice. Many residents said they wanted to bring an “end to the long bureaucratic rule”.

Shopian district recorded 53.64 per cent turnout today against 48 per cent in 2014. “It’s true that this Assembly will have less powers, but at least we will have our MLAs who will raise our issues such as getting back our rights, which have been snatched from us all these years,” Mohammad Aslam, a fruit grower, said.  Kulgam recorded 62.46 per cent voting against 59 per cent in 2014. “I want to see more development in my district…that’s why I have come out to vote,” said Nuzhat, a first-time voter in the Damhal Hanji Pora Assembly segment. “It is important to choose the right candidate,” she said. Among the four south Kashmir districts, Anantnag saw a lower voter turnout than 2014. The district recorded 55.96 per cent voting against 60 per cent in 2014.

The district, which has seven Assembly segments, is considered to be a bastion of the PDP. “In the coming two phases, we are hopeful that the poll percentage will increase,” said Pole.