70 pc voter turnout in Udhampur, 15 per cent in Srinagar as 2nd phase passes of peacefully in JK

Seventy per cent voting was recorded in Udhampur Lok Sabha seat on Thursday, while the trend of low turnout continued in Srinagar with 14.8 per cent voters exercising their franchise in the constituency where polling was held in tight security amid militant threats and boycott call by separatists.

The polling for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir remained peaceful and incident-free, Chief Electoral Officer Shailendra Kumar told reporters.

In the 2014 general election, Srinagar had witnessed a turnout of 25.86 per cent which fell to 7.2 per cent in the 2017 Lok Sabha bypoll. Udhampur had witnessed 70.9 per cent polling in 2014.

Kumar said Srinagar district recorded the lowest turn out of 7.69 per cent while Reasi district in Udhampur constituency recorded the highest of 73 per cent among the nine district where polling was conducted Thursday in the state.

According to sources, as many as 90 polling booths, mostly in downtown Srinagar, saw no voting. Srinagar constituency had 1,716 polling stations.

Ganderbal district recorded 16.7 per cent while in Budgam district, the turn out was 21.5 per cent, the CEO said.

Udhampur district recorded 69.8 per cent, followed by Kathua (69.7 per cent), Doda (61.5 per cent), Kishtwar (61 per cent) and Ramban (57.6 per cent).

Kumar said there were no reports of any violence during the day. "The polling remained peaceful."