Kashmir authorities hopeful of high voter turnout in upcoming polls
Kashmir divisional commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said that the Valley has been lagging behind in the voter turnout percentages, which he was hopeful of changing soon
Buoyed by the “improvement of situation” in Kashmir, the authorities are hopeful of a record voter turnout in the upcoming elections in the Valley.
In the past, Kashmir has often seen low turnouts due to poll boycott calls by separatists.
Kashmir divisional commissioner Vijay Kumar Bidhuri said that the Valley has been lagging behind in the voter turnout percentages, which he was hopeful of changing soon.
“If we see the voting percentage data, we are the world’s largest democracy but Kashmir has been lagging. I am hopeful that we are not going to stay at that,” Bidhuri said on the sidelines of a National Voters’ Day function in Srinagar.
While Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held soon, the Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India to conduct assembly elections in J&K by September 30, 2024.
Bidhuri said that the Kashmir was going to break all poll records this time. “We are already breaking records, from tourism to all other things. Similarly we will break voting records, God willing,” he said.
For the past few years, particularly after abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, there has been substantial decrease in stone pelting incidents and law-and-order has improved in the Valley because of strict security measures. Tourism has also flourished in the past two years. In 2022, Kashmir witnessed the highest-ever arrival of tourists at 26.5 lakh.
On Wednesday, Bidhuri had said that they were successful in achieving normalcy in the Valley and (stabilising) law-and-order.
On Thursday, Bidhuri added that the youth are enthusiastic to participate in the elections. “We have completed the summary revision exercise very nicely and all participated in that,” he said.
He requested people to check the voter list to update their records. “You will get another chance to get updated in the list,” he said.
On Monday, the union territory’s electoral rolls were published with the addition of 2.31 lakh new voters. The region has 86.93 lakh voters.
