LS polls: 39% voting recorded by displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Srinagar

A turnout of 39 per cent among Kashmiri migrant voters was recorded in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in the Srinagar parliamentary constituency on Monday.

There has been a marked increase in the number of votes cast by migrants as compared to 2019 and 2014.

However, scores of displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu were unable to vote on Monday due to their names missing from the electoral rolls.

"Thirty-nine per cent polling was registered by Kashmiri migrants across the country for the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency," Assistant Electoral Returning Officer for Migrants, Riaz Ahmed, told PTI tonight.

He said that of this, 38.73 per cent of votes were polled in Jammu. "Of the total 17,240 votes, 6,700 votes were polled," he said.

A voter turnout of around 38 per cent took place in the redrawn Srinagar Lok Sabha seat without any untoward incident on Monday, the highest since 1996 when the constituency in Kashmir recorded nearly 41 per cent polling.

Even as Kashmiri Pandits lined up at special polling stations in Jammu amid tight security, several of them had to return without casting their votes as their names were missing from the electoral rolls.

The Assistant Electoral Returning Officer attributed the problem to old data being used to prepare the lists.

"We are aware of this problem. We tried to resolve these issues. We have instructed polling staff to allow such electors to vote," he said.

The number of votes polled in the Srinagar parliamentary constituency on Monday was higher than in the previous Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019.

Out of 4,700 eligible to vote in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 2,584 Kashmiri migrant voters exercised their franchise for the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

Similarly, over 2,000 votes were polled in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.