Jammu: In the first phase of polling for 24 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir, over 58 per cent voting was recorded till 5 pm on Wednesday. Of these, eight assembly segments were located in the Jammu region and 16 in the Kashmir valley. The eight segments of the Jammu region were located in Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts. In Kashmir, the assembly segments were located in Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian districts, areas in south Kashmir, earlier considered a bastion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Mehbooba Mufti.
Sharing the district-wise percentage, Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said in Jammu that Anantnag district recorded 54.17 per cent voting, Kulgam 61.7, Pulwama 46.03 and Shopian 53.64. “In Jammu, Doda district recorded 69.33 per cent voting, Kishtwar 77.23 and Ramban 67. 71 per cent polling,” he said.
He said in Kashmir, Kulgam recorded the highest voter turnout and in Jammu, Kishtwar district topped the list. “Today’s voting percentage is higher than previous elections held in 2009, 2014 and 2024 (Lok Sabha polls) and 2008, 2014, 2024 (Assembly polls),” Pole said.
“Today’s voting percentage is higher than previous elections held in 2009, 2014 and 2024 (Lok Sabha polls) and 2008, 2014, 2024 (Assembly polls),” Pole said.
#JammuAndKashmir #AssemblyElections2024 | As of 7:30 PM, in phase-I elections, the voter turnout stands at 58.85% with Kishtwar witnessing the highest voting percentage – 77.23% and Pulwama the lowest – 46.03% (approximate): Election Commission of India https://t.co/YfSqCK0Tdr pic.twitter.com/6VsgkmgGQO
— Lok Poll (@LokPoll) September 18, 2024
Historically, south Kashmir districts of Pulwama and Shopian, known for wanton violence, used to record low polling percentages and a double digit figure of 10 per cent was termed good polling at one time! These past trends were turned on their heads and almost all assembly segments recorded high polling percentages, with Tral recording the lowest at 40 per cent.
Mehboob’as daughter Iltija Mufti is making her electoral debut from Bijebehera assembly segment, considered a stronghold of Muftis. However, the PDP is now considered a pale shadow of itself as several legislators have deserted it in the past six years. This started happening after the BJP walked out of the coalition government which Mehbooba headed in June 2018.
The highest polling percentage was recorded in Inderwal segment of Kishtwar district where over 80% voters had cast their votes by 5 pm. In the newly created Padder-Nagseni segment and Kishtwar too, over 75% voters had exercised their franchise by this time. In the Kishtwar assembly segment from where lone woman candidate fielded by the BJP, Shagun Parihar, 30, is contesting, tremendous enthusiasm was seen among voters.
It was reported by some TV channels that Shagun was allegedly heckled at a polling booth by workers of a rival candidate. This happened after she objected to some burka-clad women not carrying any identity proofs and allegedly being allowed to cast their votes. Shagun said that the voter identity cards carried by these women were of 2014 and not the recent ones which have been issued for the 2024 polls.
By 11 am, around 27 per cent overall voting was recorded in the first four hours from 7 am. The polling percentage had crossed 42 per cent by 1 pm and long lines were seen outside polling booths with no untoward incident being reported from anywhere. Inderwal assembly segment led others at 11 am, 1 pm as also at 5 pm mark in voting percentage as it had recorded over 40 per cent, 60 per cent and 80 per cent at these hours, respectively.
In the Kashmir valley, prominent faces in the fray include CPM’s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, senior Congress leader G.M. Mir, Sakina Itoo of the NC, PDP’s Sartaj Madni from Devsar, daughter of Mehbooba Mufti Iltija Mufti in Srigufwara-Bijbehara and Abdul Rehman Veeri in Shangus-Anantnag.
In the Jammu region, prominent figures included former ministers Sajjad Kitchloo (NC), Khalid Najid Suharwardy (NC), Vikar Rasool Wani (Congress), Abdul Majid Wani (DPAP), Sunil Sharma (BJP), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda West), and Ghulam Mohammad Saroori. Saroori has entered the fray as an Independent though he was considered close to Ghulam Nabi Azad.
In the 2014 assembly elections, over 65 per cent voters had exercised their franchise. This despite boycott calls by late SAS Geelani, Asiya Andrabi and others of their ilk. In the assembly polls being held now, there are no boycott calls and polling percentage is likely to be much higher.
By 5 pm, the voting percentage has crossed 58 per cent with one hour remaining for voting and yet lines were there outside most polling booths all over 24 assembly segments. The final figures for the polling are expected to be shared by the officials very late.
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