Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): As voting began for the Srinagar parliamentary seat in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha election 2024 on Monday, PDP youth leader and party candidate Waheed Para exuded confidence in first time voters.
Talking to media persons after casting his vote in Pulwama, Para said, “For the first time, new voters of Kashmir are coming out to vote. We should take it positively and the government should encourage the process rather than trying to derail it... Violence has reduced in the last five years but the way the government facilitates voting plays a major role..." while referring to the party's allegations that the Jammu and Kashmir Police had detained several of the party workers in an alleged bid to manipulate the voting outcome.
Para urged people to vote in large numbers especially in the wake of Article 370 abrogation in 2019 after which the erstwhile state awaits an elected government.
Meanwhile first time voters in Srinagar whom ETV Bharat talked to expressed joy for exercising their franchise for the first time. Irshad Ahmad, a first time voter from Tral, once a militant hotbed in south Kashmir's Pulwama said that he was happy to vote for the first time “because we have the right to elect our government which resolves our issues”. “I appeal to people to vote to elect their government. I am sure that this will change our fortunes,” Irshad said.
Abdul Gani, another first time voter from the region expressed similar views. “I am happy that I have voted for the first time in the parliamentary election. I hope that the elected representative will help resolve our issues in the coming days”.
According to the ECI, a total of 17,47,810 voters are enrolled for voting in Srinagar including 8,75,938 men, 8,71,808 women and 64 third-gender voters besides 11,682 persons with disability and 705 voters above the age of 100 years.
A total of 2,135 polling stations have been set up across Srinagar, Ganderbal, Pulwama and parts of Budgam and Shopian districts where polling is being held today. These include 26 special polling stations for migrant voters of Kashmir Division with 21 in Jammu, four in Delhi and one in Udhampur District.
More than 8,500 polling staff, including reserve staff has been deployed for the smooth conduct of polling.
