LS polls: Anantnag records 53% turnout, highest in 35 years

Anantnag: May 25: The newly redrawn Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency broke a 35-year-old record when 53 percent of people exercised their right to franchise today.

Fractional correction is expected in the percentage figure, as at some of the Polling Stations voting continued even after 6.00 pm and many polling parties are yet to reach Reception Center.

This remarkable participation marks a new era of peace and civic engagement in these districts. This year’s elections were conducted without any boycott calls or intimidation, showcasing the voters’ unwavering belief in the power of the ballot.

Not a single polling station reported zero votes, a testament to the widespread enthusiasm and commitment to the democratic process. The corresponding percentage for the last Loksabha election in 2019 was 9.70 %. Voters participated with lots of enthusiasm.

Since the eruption of terrorism, the highest-ever poll percentage in Anantnag Parliamentary Constituency was recorded in 1996 at 50.02%. Hence the poll percentage of 53 % is the highest in the last 35 years

Important factors that can be attributed to the increased record polling percentage are improved security – law and order environment in the last 4-5 years, mobilization by 20 candidates and Political parties, election awareness through SVEEP activities, and more importantly voters’ strong belief that it is the Ballot which can lead to sustainable development.

Polling took place in 2338 polling stations across the Anantnag Parliamentary constituency with live webcasting at all the polling stations. Voting started at 7 a.m. across the PC with long queues of enthusiastic voters waiting to cast their votes.

Demonstrating the spirit of democracy the voters of Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Rajouri, and Poonch Districts showed up in record numbers to cast their votes in a significant show of faith in the Election Process. Since the beginning of the poll at 7.00 AM, Voters were seen standing in long queues at many polling stations across all 5 Districts. Elderlies, ladies, and youths were seen enthusiastically exercising their right to vote in a peaceful environment.  

Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, and other senior officers of the election department monitored the progress of voting in Phase -VI across the Parliamentary constituency from the Union Territory-level Command and Control Center established at ICCC- HMT, Bemina and CEO Office, Srinagar.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Command and Control center has been working 24 x 7 at Srinagar as well as Jammu since 16 March to ensure free, fair, and inducement-free elections.

Around 18,36,576 electors were enrolled to cast their vote in this Parliamentary Constituency. More than 9,000 polling staff have performed the poll duty. Poll continued till 6.00 pm and at a few polling stations of Poonch- Rajouri and other areas, till voting by the last voter standing in queue. At every polling station, basic minimum facilities of water, electricity, toilet, ramp, verandah/ waiting room etc were made.

To ensure inclusive voting, 17 polling booths were managed by women (also called pink polling stations),15 polling booths were managed by specially-abled persons, and 8 polling stations managed by youths were established. Also to spread the message about environmental concerns, 15 green polling stations were set up. To facilitate voter identification, apart from EPIC cards, other documents such as Adhar cards, Bank Passbooks, Driving License, PAN Card, Govt employee ID cards, etc documents were also allowed. Media facilitation was done through special passes for more than 600 journalists.

The democratic spirit has won over any kind of apprehension in the mind of the common Kashmiri voter. Despite the terror incidence of Pahalgam, Shopian, and Surankote-Mendhar in Poonch, which happened in this parliamentary constituency area, voters were seen coming in large numbers to vote. Anti-national elements failed to deter voters from exercising their constitutional rights.

All candidates and parties were able to reach every nook and corner of the constituency during the extended campaigning period from 5th May to 23rd May. Meticulous planning and execution of SVEEP activities was done and it ultimately has resulted in a significant increase in the voter turnout. SMS Blast on mobile through telecom companies, hoarding, flex, nukkad natak, street play, painting competitions, various sports competitions, rallies, etc has translated into an increase in overall voter turnout. The spirit of democracy has triumphed and not even a single incident of stone pelting or any kind of violence has been reported on poll day.

The enthusiasm among the political parties, who are an important stakeholder in the democratic process can be gauged from the fact that a record number of applications regarding various permissions have been received on the Suvidha portal and they were facilitated to hold public meetings/ rallies etc in all nook and corner of the constituency. The campaigning in Anantnag PC has been violence-free and has witnessed historic participation from the voters.

There were more than 26,000 Kashmiri migrant electors in PC- who opted for voting at 26 Special Polling Stations established at Jammu (21), Udhampur (01) and Delhi (04). At these 26 special polling stations, there was voter turnout of 40% at Jammu around 50 % at Udhampur, and 53 % at Delhi. It is the first time that the migrant community has turned to vote in such large numbers.

The CEO- J&K in his message congratulated all the voters and expressed gratitude towards all those voters who came in large numbers to cast their votes. He also appreciated the work done by all the Polling personnel, including security personnel deployed in the election process, Police officers, ARO, RO, and District Election Officers for their service in making the ongoing elections successful.

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)