Voters in Jammu and Kashmir continued to turn out in unprecedented numbers to exercise their franchise in the region’s first assembly elections in a decade, allowing for a high participation in the second phase of voting on Wednesday in a territory formerly plagued by terrorism and violent boycotts.
According to Election Commission data, the 26 seats in the second phase—15 in Kashmir and 11 in Jammu—recorded an overall turnout of 56.94%. This number will likely be revised upwards.
Chief electoral officer PK Pole said polling went by peacefully, adding, “In Srinagar, which is capital of UT, the polling surpassed the recent Lok Sabha polls which was 22.83%. Srinagar today recorded 29%,” he said.
The turnout carried forward the momentum recorded during this summer’s Lok Sabha polls, when a turnout of 58.46% was recorded, the highest in 35 years. In last week’s first phase of polling for UT’s 24 seats, an impressive turnout of 61.38% was registered.
To be sure, a seat-by-seat comparison is not possible with previous assembly or Lok Sabha polls as the boundaries of the constituencies were changed in a delimitation exercise in 2022.
These are the first assembly polls in the restive region since its special status and statehood were scrapped five years ago, and are likely to be the last step before the Union territory’s statehood is restored.
At Beerwah, where a polling station was set up in a Girls Higher Secondary School, long queues were the norm. “For the past five years the governance in Jammu and Kashmir has been run by officers. We want our own representatives to get elected and resolve our problems,” said Abdul Gani Wani, 65, said. “We are six people in our family and all have voted in the early hours.”
While Reasi district in Jammu witnessed the highest 71.81% turnout, Srinagar recorded the lowest 27.31%. Jammu and Kashmir had recorded its highest overall turnout of 75% in 1987.
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