58.19% voter turnout in first phase of J&K landmark polls

SRINAGAR: On Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir held its first assembly elections in a decade. The polls opened at 7 am and concluded at 6 pm, with the Election Commission reporting a turnout of 58.85% in the initial phase.

 

 

Kishtwar district recorded the highest participation with 77.23%, while Pulwama saw the lowest, with only 43.87% of voters casting their ballots. This is the first election since the controversial redrawing of boundaries that allocated 47 seats to Kashmir and 43 to Jammu. Over 2.3 million voters were expected to cast their vote in 24 of the 90 constituencies during the first phase.

 

 

By 5 pm, voter turnout by district stood at:

– Anantnag: 54.17%

– Doda: 69.33%

– Kishtwar: 77.23%

– Kulgam: 59.62%

– Pulwama: 43.87%

– Ramban: 67.71%

– Shopian: 53.64%

 

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Of the 24 seats, eight were located in the Jammu region (Doda, Ramban, and Kishtwar), while the remaining 16 were spread across the Kashmir districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam. A total of 3,276 polling stations were established, comprising 302 in urban areas and 2,974 in rural locations. The Election Commission deployed over 14,000 officials to ensure smooth voting operations.

 

 

The main parties in the fray include the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress-National Conference alliance, and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). A last-minute alliance between Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami led to their candidates running as independents.

 

Key candidates in the first phase included Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir, and senior CPI(M) member Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami.

 

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The Election Commission announced the official turnout after the first phase of voting, confirming the participation across 24 constituencies in seven districts, exceeding levels seen in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

 

 

Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir praised the peaceful conduct of the polls, emphasizing the importance of citizens choosing their representatives despite the limited power of the Union Territory government. Meanwhile, Iltija Mufti, the PDP candidate from the Bijbehara constituency, expressed her satisfaction with the high voter turnout, calling for a transparent and fair election process.