People of Srinagar remain reluctant voters as district records 29.24% turnout

People queue up to vote at a polling station in Srinagar on .
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Locals of Srinagar district continued to be reluctant voters on Wednesday (September 25, 2024), which was evident with the low voter turnout of 29.24% in spite of the high-pitch, violence-free poll campaigning by parties in the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election.

Also read | Second phase sees over 56% voter turnout

Srinagar district, which consists of eight Assembly segments, was among the three districts of Kashmir Valley, including Ganderbal and Budgam, that witnessed polling on Wednesday (September 25, 2024). Unlike the long queues of Ganderbal’s Kangan constituency, which recorded 67.6% polling and Budgam’s Khansahib constituency with 67.7% polling till 5 p.m., most polling booths in the old city saw only a trickle of voters since the morning.

“It’s a powerless Assembly to vote for. It cannot bring back what we lost on August 5, 2019. Our own parties betrayed and failed us in the past. There is none to have faith in. Kashmir has witnessed a lot of bloodshed and in return got humiliation and not a dignified solution,” Rafi Khan, a resident from Srinagar’s Safakadal area, said. “I see no reason to vote”.

Srinagar district’s poll percentage was 27.9% in the 2014 election and recorded 29.24% this time. “Srinagar saw an increase of 5% compared to voter turnout of the Lok Sabha elections [earlier this year],” J&K Chief Electoral Officer P.K. Pole said.

A part of Safakadal area in Eidgah constituency has borne the brunt of three decades of militancy and street violence as it remains a hub of separatist supporters. Compared to the 2014 Assembly election, Eidgah saw a marginal increase from 27.79% voter turnout to 34.65% till 5 p.m.

Of all the eight Assembly segments of Srinagar district, the Habba Kadal constituency saw mere 15.8% polling till 5 p.m. compared to 21.01% in 2014 election. “New Delhi has only added to the sense of alienation by adding another chapter of betrayal in 2019. Our land, jobs and resources were put up for sale. I voted in 2014 with the hope of change. It was only followed by the ending of J&K’s special status. Was it justice to the suffering that people of Kashmir faced for three decades? New Delhi reversed the clock to 1931 and took us back to the Dogra Raj,” Hamid Ahangar, a shopkeeper from Zaina Kadal, said.

In Khanyar constituency, voters were enthused to “vote in a new government that can reverse measures taken after 2019”. However, overall response of voters remained subdued, as only 24% voters turned up at the polling booths by 5 p.m. The constituency saw 26.12% polling in the 2014 elections.

Of the eight Assembly segments in the district, only two constituencies — Lal Chowk and Eidgah — crossed the 30% turnover mark by 5 p.m.