For the first time after the abolition of Article 370, assembly elections have been held in Jammu and Kashmir, regarding which a lot of enthusiasm was seen among the people. There were long queues outside the polling stations since morning. In the third and final phase of assembly elections on Tuesday, 68.72% voting took place, which is more than the figures of Lok Sabha elections. Seven districts including Sopore and Baramulla have seen the highest turnout in any election in the last three decades. According to Election Commission data, 63.45 percent voting took place in three phases.
According to Election Commission data, there was a total of 63.45% voting in the three phases. Officials said polling was conducted peacefully in all areas, including the international border and special polling stations near the Line of Control (LoC). No untoward incident has been reported from anywhere.
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Even in the first and second phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, the voting percentage was more than the Lok Sabha elections. In the first phase, 61.38% voting took place in seven districts, whereas in the Lok Sabha elections it was 60%. Similarly, in the second phase, 57.31% voting took place in six districts, which was much higher than 52.17% in the Lok Sabha elections. However, compared to the 2014 assembly elections, the third phase saw a decline in voting percentage in seven districts of Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua and Samba and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in North Kashmir. Most of the seats recorded a decline of 1 to 15% as compared to 2014. Whereas in Sopore, Baramulla and Pattan the percentage has increased this time.
Sopore which was once considered a stronghold of terrorism and separatism. 41.44% voting has been recorded there which is much better than 30.79% in 2014. At the same time, in Baramulla, which is considered slow in terms of voting, 47.95 percent voting took place. Whereas in the year 2014 it was 39.73%, in Pattan the turnout was 60.87%, which is more than the 58.72% turnout in the last election.
According to Election Commission data, an estimated 68.72% of over 39.18 lakh eligible voters exercised their franchise in the third phase. However, this figure is reported as an “estimated trend” as it does not include postal ballots and data has not yet been collected from some polling stations.
Counting of votes will take place on October 8
For the third phase, voting took place on 40 seats in 7 districts from 7 am to 6 pm amid tight security. In this phase, the fate of 415 candidates was sealed in EVMs, which include former Deputy Chief Ministers Tara Chand and Muzaffar Baig and many former ministers and MLAs. Counting of votes will take place on October 8.
Samba district recorded the highest turnout of 73.45%, while Udhampur recorded 72.91%, Kathua 70.53%, Jammu 66.79%, Bandipora 64.85%, Kupwara 62.76% and Baramulla 55.73%. The highest turnout of 77.35% was recorded in Chhamb constituency of Jammu district.
Assembly elections were special in many ways
Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections were special in many ways. For the first time since the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, West Pakistani refugees, members of Valmiki Samaj and Gorkha community have cast their votes in the assembly elections. These communities also participated in the Block Development Council and District Development Council elections held in the years 2019 and 2020.
The Election Commission said that this time the role of money and power in the assembly elections was also limited to a great extent. With the coordinated efforts of various enforcement agencies, a total of Rs 130 crore was seized during the elections, which is the largest amount so far in the history of Jammu and Kashmir elections. The Commission said that drugs worth Rs 110.45 crore were also included in the recovery. During the Lok Sabha elections this figure was more than Rs 100.94 crore.