Jammu and Kashmir witnessed a voter turnout of 65.65 voter turnout by 8 pm on Tuesday (October 1) in the third and final phase of Assembly Elections in the Union Territory, and the figures are likely to surpass the Lok Sabha poll turnout in the corresponding seven districts that voted today, according to the latest ECI data. In the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, the turnout in these districts was recorded at 66.78 per cent. The voter turnout in Phase 1 and 2 of the three-phased Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir has already surpassed that of the parliamentary polls.
While seven districts in Phase 1 recorded 61.38 per cent turnout in these assembly elections, it was 60 per cent in the general elections. Similarly, six districts that went to polls in Phase 2 of the Assembly polls recorded 57.31 per cent polling as compared to 52.17 per cent turnout in the Lok Sabha polls, according to available data.
What is the latest data?
According to the ECI data available till 8 pm, Samba recorded the highest turnout with 73.45 per cent, while Udhampur saw 72.91 per cent voting. Kathua also breached the 70 mark with 70.53 per cent turnout.
Other seats that went to polls were Bandipore (64.85 pc), Baramulla (55.73 pc), Jammu (66.79 pc), Kupwara (62.76 pc).
Assembly Elections are being held in Jammu and Kashmir after a decade and are the first since provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution were abrogated and the erstwhile state divided into two Union Territories in 2019.
Displaced Kashmiri Pandits vote with hope of return to their homeland
Thousands of displaced Kashmiri Pandits on Tuesday once again cast their vote with the hope that the new government in Jammu and Kashmir will facilitate their return to the Kashmir valley. Seventy-six-year-old Badri Nath, who have participated in several parliamentary and assembly elections, voted optimistically in the third and last phase of assembly polls, expressing a wish for the restoration of his home in the valley.
"I am voting once again in the hope that the new government will deliver justice to our community by fulfilling the demand to return to our homes in the valley," said Nath, who originally hails from North Kashmir's Bandipora district, after casting his vote at a polling station in Muthi in Jammu district.
Criticizing past governments for their failure to address the issue, he said, "The governments led by Farooq Abdullah in 1996, followed by Mufti Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad from 2002 to 2008, Omar Abdullah in 2009, and Mehbooba Mufti-BJP in 2014 failed to address the rehabilitation issue."
A majority of nearly three lakh members of the community reside in Jammu and Delhi, who have been living in exile for 35 years since the insurgency in Kashmir forced them to leave their homeland.
Following a delimitation exercise, the number of assembly seats has gone up from 83 to 90, excluding those allocated to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Last December, the Supreme Court directed the poll panel to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30.
(With PTI inputs)
ALSO READ | Why killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah led to protests in Jammu and Kashmir? EXPLAINED
