Jammu/Srinagar: Voter turnout of 68.72 percent was recorded in the third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections on Tuesday, according to Election Commission data.
Polling in the 40 Assembly segments across seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir, including Jammu, began at 7 am amid tight security and concluded at 6 pm. It concluded the polling for the three-phase Assembly elections, with an overall turnout of 63.45 percent. The results will be declared on October 8.
Long queues outside polling stations since early morning marked the enthusiasm among people who voted for the first time in the Assembly elections post the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
In today’s polling, more than 39.18 lakh eligible voters were to decide the fate of 415 candidates, including two former deputy chief ministers Tara Chand and Muzaffar Baig, and several former ministers and legislators.
Officials said polling was held peacefully in all segments including special polling stations along the International Border and Line of Control (LoC) with no untoward incident reported from anywhere.
A voter turnout of 68.72 percent was recorded till 6 pm, the EC said, adding that these figures were tentative and were likely to go up a bit with detailed data coming in from different constituencies which went to polls today.
The figure is the highest compared to the previous two phases. A voter turnout of 61.38 percent was recorded in the first phase of the elections on September 18 and 57.31 percent in the second phase on September 25.
The results are scheduled to be announced on October 8.
Among the prominent candidates in the fray in this phase were Sajad Lone (Handwara/Kupwara) Raman Bhalla (R S Pura), Usman Majid (Bandipora), Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurez), Taj Mohiuddin (Uri), Basharat Bukhari (Wagoora-Kreeri), Imran Ansari (Pattan), Ghulam Hassan Mir (Gulmarg), Choudhary Lal Singh (Basohli), Rajiv Jasrotia (Jasrota), Manohar Lal Sharma (Billawar), Sham Lal Sharma, and Ajay Kumar Sadhotra (Jammu North).
To facilitate voter participation, the EC had set up 5,060 polling stations and ensured 100 percent webcasting across all constituencies. Of the total, 974 were urban polling stations and 4,086 rural.
For migrant voters of the Kashmir division, 24 special polling stations — 19 in Jammu, four in Delhi and one in Udhampur district – were established.
Officials said a comprehensive security strategy was implemented at each polling station to ensure peaceful voting. More than 400 companies of security forces, including paramilitary and armed police personnel, were deployed to ensure smooth voting.
Constituency Poll %age
In north Kashmir, KARNAH recorded 68.50% polling, TREHGAM: 66.18, KUPWARA: 62.00, LOLAB: 63.00, HANDWARA: 69.21; LANGATE: 66.60, SOPORE: 45.00, RAFIABAD: 61.94, URI: 67.55, BARAMULLA: 54.00, GULMARG: 65.74, WAGOORA-KREERI: 60.72, PATTAN: 67.30, SONAWARI: 69.84, BANDIPORA: 63.21 and GUREZ recorded 77.96%.
In Jammu region, UDHAMPUR WEST polled 76.92% votes, UDHAMPUR EAST: 77.00, CHENANI: 76.82, RAMNAGAR: 72.35, BANI: 75.00, BILLAWAR: 71.00, BASOHLI: 69.37, JASROTA: 74.26, KATHUA: 72.20, HIRANAGAR: 72.00, RAMGARH: 76.50, SAMBA: 72.90, VIJAYPUR; 76.42, BISHNAH: 74.00, SUCHETGARH: 71.00, R.S. PURA-JAMMU SOUTH: 65.00, BAHU: 60.51, JAMMU EAST: 62.00, NAGROTA: 77.60, JAMMU WEST: 57.65, JAMMU NORTH: 72.00, MARH: 79.00, AKHNOOR: 79.70, CHHAMB: 79.00, and KALAKOTE-SUNDERBANI recorded 68.82% polling.
No repoll recorded in J&K assembly polls: EC
The Election Commission said no repolls have been recorded so far in the three-phased Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls which concluded on Tuesday.
It also noted that despite an increase in the number of assembly seats from 83 in 2014 to 90 in 2024, the elections were completed in three phases this time as opposed to five in 2014.
No major law and order incidents related to the elections were reported, a significant improvement from 2014 when over 170 incidents were reported, including 87 on polling days, it said.
There also have been no complaints pertaining to arbitrary preventive detention of political functionaries in these elections which is “unprecedented”, the poll authority said.
The Election Commission (EC) had also strictly instructed against clubbing of polling stations just before the poll day, and accordingly, people voted at their actual polling station location as opposed to 98 polling stations shifted in 2014 at the eleventh hour.
The role of money and muscle power has been curtailed to a “significant extent”, it said.
These assembly polls have seen a seven per cent increase in the number of candidates contesting as compared to the assembly elections in 2014.
Women candidates made a significant leap, increasing from 28 to 43 in the corresponding period, while independent candidates saw a 26 per cent rise.
Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs) also demonstrated a remarkable 71 per cent increase in participation from 138 in 2014 to 236 in 2024, the EC said.(PTI)
