Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls: Almost 59% turnout record in Phase 1

Almost 59 per cent polling was recorded (updated until 7.30 pm) on 24 of the total 90 seats that polled in the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Assembly elections on Wednesday.

It is the first Assembly election in a decade in J&K and also the first since it was turned into a Union Territory in 2019.

The Election Commission lauded the “deep trust and confidence” that J&K’s electorate displayed in the democratic exercise.

It said the turnout “builds on the trend witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections” in J&K, which saw a voter turnout of 58.58 per cent, highest in the last 35 years.

According to reports, the polling, which started at 7 am, was peaceful barring reports of clashes between political workers in a couple of constituencies.

Of the 24 seats that voted in the first phase, 16 are in the Kashmir Valley, mostly south Kashmir, and eight in the Jammu region.

At least a third of these seats have been carved out of other seats or renamed after delimitation in 2022. 

Kishtwar recorded the highest turnout of 77 per cent and Pulwama lowest at 46 per cent, said J&K chief electoral officer P K Pole.

In 2014, the total voter turnout across all seats was 65.52 per cent. Ten years back, Kishtwar had recorded 78.1 per cent and Pulwama 38.1 per cent.

In 2014, of the 21 that correspond to the post-delimitation seats that voted on Wednesday, Mehbooba Mufti-led Peoples Democratic Party had won 11. The Congress and BJP won four seats each and National Conference and CPI (M) one seat each. With PTI inputs