Women speak to each other outside a polling booth during the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, at a tribal area of Poonch district, J&K.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday (September 26, 2024) blamed the Centre for the lower voter turnout in the second phase of elections held to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Wednesday (September 25, 2024).
NC vice-president Omar Abdullah, while expressing his unhappiness over the poll percentage, especially in Srinagar, said, “The turnout was less compared to what we expected. It’s the fault of Central government for comparing high poll percentage (in the previous phase) with normalcy and calling it the effect of Article 370 removal. I think the low voter turnout was the reaction to it in Srinagar,” he said.
“People of Srinagar didn’t want to send a wrong message by projecting it as normalcy and acceptance of Article 370 abrogation. They made another mistake of bringing those diplomats to show the higher percentage of voting, but people of Srinagar didn’t want that to happen,” he added.
Hoping to see a jump in polling in the third and final phase on October 1, Mr. Abdullah said, “People across Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara have voted in difficult situation. We expect a good voter turnout this time too.”
PDP leader Waheed-ur-Rehmaan Parra blamed the iron hand policy of the Centre for the lower turnout in Srinagar. “For those questioning the low turnout in Srinagar: the years-long crackdown on PDP, the splitting of its cadres, and the fragmentation of the Opposition into three factions have pushed voters away rather than encourage (their) participation,” Mr. Parra said.
The second phase recorded about 57% polling, and it was 61.13% in the first phase. Data suggested that 20 out of the 26 Assembly segments that went to the polls in the second phase registered lower polling compared to the 2014 Assembly elections.
Published – September 26, 2024 09:53 pm IST