Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and President of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), shows her ink-marked finger (Pic credit: Reuters)
NEW DELHI: The Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency has set a new record, with a voter turnout of 51.35 per cent as of 5 pm, the highest in the past 35 years, according to the
Election Commission of India
. This achievement follows the record-breaking voter turnouts in Srinagar and
Baramulla
, making all three parliamentary constituencies in the
Kashmir valley
witness their highest voter participation in recent history.
In the ongoing
Lok Sabha elections 2024
, the three parliamentary constituencies in the valley - Srinagar (38.49 per cent), Baramulla (59.1 per cent), and Anantnag-Rajouri (51.35 per cent as of 5 PM) - have recorded voter turnouts that are the highest in several decades, as per a press release by EC.
The overall voter turnout in these three constituencies is approximately 50per cent (based on the Anantnag Rajouri data at 5 pm), a significant increase from the 19.16 per cent recorded in 2019.
The Election Commission, led by CEC Rajiv Kumar and ECs Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, said, "People of Jammu and Kashmir, in the Anantnag Rajouri PC polling too, have reposed faith in democracy and proved naysayers wrong."
“Today about 53 per cent voting took place. This is the second highest polling percentage to be recorded in the state ever and it is also the highest voting percentage recorded in the state in the last 35 years," Jammu and Kashmir chief electoral officer PK Pole said in a press conference.
The polling process took place across 2,338 polling stations in the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary constituency, with live webcasting available at the polling stations. Voting commenced at 7 am, and long queues of enthusiastic voters were seen waiting to cast their votes.
In a move to facilitate the participation of Kashmiri migrant voters, the Commission has made special arrangements. Those residing in relief camps across Delhi, Jammu, and Udhampur have been given the choice to cast their votes either in person at designated special polling stations or through the use of postal ballots. To accommodate these voters, "21 Special Polling Stations were established at Jammu, 1 at Udhampur and 4 at Delhi," as per Election Commission.
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