‘We wanted one good election to bring people out’
*Large enthusiasm witnessed among voters
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, June 6: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar today said that the Commission will shortly give a chance to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to elect their Government.
“We will give the people an opportunity to form their Government and choose their representatives as per their choice as soon as possible,” Kumar told reporters in New Delhi today.
Asserting that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are due, the Chief Election Commissioner said when they visited the Union Territory on March 12, he had dropped hint that they will hold the elections at an appropriate time.
“We wanted one good election in Jammu and Kashmir to bring people out (to cast votes). People came out in large numbers there (in recently conducted Parliamentary polls),” he said, adding now the Commission will give the people a chance to elect their representatives and the Government soon.
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Kumar said there was large enthusiasm among the people about voting in Jammu and Kashmir.
It may be mentioned here that voting percentage in Jammu and Kashmir has broken record of four decades. While Jammu and Udhampur Lok Sabha seats are known for good turnouts; Baramulla, Anantnag and Srinagar also recorded impressive polling percentage this time.
CEC Rajiv Kumar had earlier also stated that Assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir shortly after successful conduct of Parliamentary polls.
The Supreme Court while upholding abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on December 11, 2023, had directed the Election Commission to conduct Assembly elections in the Union Territory before September 30, 2024.
Last Assembly polls in J&K were held in November-December 2014. The UT has 90-seat Assembly. Plus, there are 24 seats reserved for Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) in the Assembly. There is also a provision for nomination of five MLAs including two Women, two Kashmiri migrants, one of them a woman, and a PoJK refugee.
PTI adds: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu handed over the list of candidates who won the Lok Sabha elections to President Droupadi Murmu.
Accepting the recommendation of the Union Cabinet, the President had ordered the dissolution of the 17th Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a voter turnout of 65.79 per cent was recorded in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, but the final figures may change as it does not include postal ballots, the Election Commission said.
Kumar had earlier said a total of 64.2 crore voters had exercised their franchise.
In the 2019 Parliamentary polls, the turnout was 67.40 per cent.
In 2019, India had 91.20 crore voters and out of these, 61.5 had exercised their franchise. In the 2024 polls, the size of the electorate grew to 96.88 crore voters.
“Overall, 65.79 per cent voter turnout recorded in general elections, 2024, at the polling stations,” the Election Commission said in a statement.
The Commission said detailed statistical reports having number of postal votes and gross voter turnout will be made available after finalisation of details, as received from States and Union Territories in due course according to standard practice.
The women voter turnout was more than that of men in the seventh phase of the Lok Sabha elections held on June 1, according to the EC data. The women voter turnout was 64.72 per cent while that of men was 63.11 per cent. The turnout of persons of the third gender was 22.33 per cent, the data showed.
Similar trends were witnessed in the fifth and sixth phase of the polls held on May 20 and May 25 respectively.
In the fifth phase, the women voter turnout was 63 per cent and that of men was 61.48 per cent. In the sixth phase, 61.95 per cent men and 64.95 per cent women voted, according to EC data.
The overall voter turnout of the 2024 general election was 65.79 per cent, it said
In the seventh phase, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh were among the States that had a higher women voter turnout.
In Himachal Pradesh, the turnout of women voters was 72.64 per cent while that of men was 69.19 per cent, it was 73.75 per cent for women and 68.10 per cent for men in Jharkhand and it was 76.50 per cent for women and 72.42 per cent for men in Odisha.
In Uttar Pradesh, the women voter turnout was 58.56 per cent compared to 53.47 per cent for men.
Meanwhile, the Model Code of Conduct that came into force on March 16 with the announcement of the Lok Sabha election has been lifted.
In a communication to the Union Cabinet Secretary and State Chief Secretaries, the Election Commission said as results of Lok Sabha elections and Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, along with some Assembly bypolls have been declared, “Model Code of Conduct has ceased to be in operation with immediate effect”.
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