New Delhi: In the ongoing high-stakes Lok Sabha elections with only the last phase of voting left on June 1, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday said that Jammu and Kashmir witnessed its highest poll participation in the last 35 years with the Union Territory (five Lok Sabha seats) recording 58.46 per cent of voting.
The Anantnag-Rajouri seat of the Valley, which now also includes Poonch and Rajouri after the delimitation formula voted in the sixth phase of polling on May 25 marking the end of elections in all five seats of J&K.
"This achievement sits on a credible weave of a 25 per cent increase in several contesting candidates since 2019, C-vigil complaints showing enhanced citizen involvement and Suvidha Portal showing 2,455 requests for rallies, reflecting the steady retaking of the election and campaign space away from hesitation and to fuller participation," said CEC Rajiv Kumar.
He further said, "Compared this outcome of the layered depth of electoral mobilisation and participation, as reminiscent of the fame and deft of the legendary Kashmiri artisanal weave. This active participation is a huge positive for Assembly elections to be held soon so that the democratic process continues to thrive in the Union Territory."
The three seats in the Kashmir Valley-- Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri -- recorded a turnout of 38.49 per cent, 59.1 per cent and 54.84 per cent respectively, which has been the highest in the last three decades. "The poll participation percentage witnessed 30 points jump from the last general elections in 2019 where it was 19.16 per cent", the poll panel said.
The other two seats in the UT -- Udhampur and Jammu -- recorded 68.27 per cent and 72.22 per cent voter turnout respectively--the poll panel said. Notably, the Lok Sabha elections 2024 are the first major election held in the Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370 by the Bharatiya Janata Party in August 2019.
The erstwhile state was also divided into two UTs--Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh--before 2019, Jammu and Kashmir had six Lok Sabha seats, including Ladakh. Now that Ladakh is a separate UT, the parliamentary seats in J&K have been reduced to five.
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