New Delhi: In a massive stride for India’s electoral polity, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed its highest poll participation in the last 35 years. The Combined Voter Turnout (VTR) at the polling stations for the entire Union Territory (5 Lok Sabha seats) was 58.46 % in the general elections 2024, the Election Commission noted.
It said this significant participation is the testament to the robust democratic spirit and civil engagement of the people in the region as it thanked the polling personnel and security officials over the peaceful conduct of the elections.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said: "This active participation is a huge positive for Assembly elections to be held soon so that the democratic process continues to thrive in the Union Territory."
The voter turnout of 50.86% from the three Parliamentary constituencies in the Kashmir valley echoes the faith of the people in the democratic process, the EC said. The poll participation percentage witnessed 30 points jump from the last elections in 2019 when it were 19.16%. The three constituencies in the valley, namely Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag-rajouri recorded the voter turnout of 38.49%, 59.1% and 54.84% respectively, the highest in the last three decades. The other two constituencies in the Union Territory, namely Udhampur and Jammu recorded 68.27% and 72.22% voter turnout respectively.
