Jammu and Kashmir Elections: Overall turnout falls short of 2014 tally, polling in boycott bastions highest in 30 years

Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir concluded on Tuesday. The results are scheduled to be declared on October 8. (PTI Photo)

The third and final phase of the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir concluded with a turnout of 69.65 percent recorded across the 40 seats that went to polls on Tuesday, peacefully drawing to a close the first Assembly polls in the state in a decade. No major incidents were recorded in either of the three phases, the Election Commission of India said.

The first two phases of polling recorded turnouts of 61.38 percent and 57.31 per cent, respectively. The overall turnout, thus, stood at 62.78 percent, as per the provisional figures available with the EC as of Wednesday morning.

The turnout in the Assembly elections stands significantly higher than the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, but fell short of the tally recorded during the previous Assembly elections held in 2014. A voter turnout of 57.89 percent was recorded in the Lok Sabha while the 2014 Assembly elections witnessed 65.84 percent turnout.

In the elections held in 40 seats on Tuesday, 24 were in Jammu while 16 constituencies fell in the Kashmir region. The 16 seats of North Kashmir saw polling drop by over 5 percent from 2014 while the fall in 24 segments of Jammu was more pronounced at over 6 percent as compared to the 2014 Assembly elections.

The turnout in Phases 1 and 2 was also higher than in the Lok Sabha elections. While seven districts in Phase 1 recorded a turnout of 61.38 percent, the figure was 60 percent in the Lok Sabha polls. Similarly, six districts in Phase 2 recorded 57.31 percent overall polling compared to 52.17 percent in the Lok Sabha polls.

However, compared to the 2014 Assembly elections, the drop in turnout went up to 15 percent. This, despite boycott hubs witnessing a significant increase in the tally.

Similarly, Sopore, which recorded the lowest turnout at 45.32 percent, managed to register an increase of almost 15 percent from the 2014 Assembly elections. The tally stood at 48 percent in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.

District-wise, the seven seats of Baramulla recorded a turnout of 61.03 percent (up from 57.71% in 2014), the six seats in Kupwara recorded 66.79 percent (down from 71.98% in 2014) and 67.68 percent in the three seats of Bandipore (down from 74.49% in 2014).

The 11 districts of Jammu registered a turnout of 71.4 percent (down from 75.15 in 2014). While Udhampur’s four seats saw 76.09 percent polling (a drop from 76.68% in 2014), the turnout in Samba’s three seats stood at 75.88 percent(down from 79.66%) and Kathua’s six seats 73.34 percent(down from 77.11% in 2014).