Voting record of 40 years made in Baramulla, Kashmir, democracy started fluttering in the ‘bastion of terror’ as soon as Article 370 was removed

New Delhi: What has changed in Kashmir after the removal of Article 370 of the Constitution? The people of Baramulla have given a strong answer to those who asked such questions on the day of voting on Monday. Baramulla, which has been a ‘bastion of terror’ since the 1990s, witnessed 58.62% voting. This is the record of the last 40 years. Therefore, it can be said that another answer to the question on the effects of removal of Article 370 has been found – there is now a wave of democracy in the bastion of terror. Voting took place in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Monday in Baramulla parliamentary constituency of Jammu and Kashmir. According to the Election Commission, 58.62% voting took place there. This is the largest figure since 1984, both in terms of voting percentage and number of voters. The highest turnout in Baramulla was 61.1% in the Lok Sabha elections in 1984. The region had been in the grip of insurgency since 1989, when turnout reached an all-time low of 5.5%. North Kashmir was a stronghold of terrorists in the early 1990s.

Look at the effect of removal of Article 370

But when Article 370 was removed, this time the families of active terrorists also participated enthusiastically in the festival of democracy. The brother of an active Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist said, ‘Voting is my right, so I voted.’ On the other hand, there was amazing enthusiasm among the youth towards the elections. The extent to which the youth of the entire Jammu and Kashmir as well as Baramulla were aware about voting can be gauged from the fact that the youth left the cricket field and went to the polling booth.

What amazing enthusiasm, amazing enthusiasm!

A group of local players left their cricket match midway and reached a polling booth in Silu area of ​​Sopore, which is part of Baramulla parliamentary constituency. This team of young cricketers said that they have an understanding of social responsibility and have come to vote for change in the state. A young cricketer said, ‘We have come to vote. The youth, the new generation, want a kind of revolution, we want a change in what is going on. Keep in mind that in Sopore, which was once called ‘Chhota Pakistan’, the voting percentage used to be very low in the last few decades.

Another first-time voter, Muezzin Manzoor, said that voting is necessary for development. He said, ‘There has not been much improvement in the last 70 years. So, I voted for the first time to bring change. Another interesting thing was that in Nowshera area of ​​Uri assembly constituency, a groom cast his vote before the marriage.

There is no trace of violence, it has become history

Although 22 candidates are in the fray in Baramulla, but the contest is mainly between three candidates. These are former CM and Vice President Omar Abdullah of National Conference, Sajjad Lone of People’s Conference and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of Awami Ittehad Party, known as Engineer Rashid. Voting here has been brisk since Monday morning. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer Pandurang Kondabarao said that no incident of violence took place and the people of Baramulla have created history.

28 year old record broken in voting for the first time after removal of Article 370, bumper voting in Srinagar
There were 2,103 polling stations in the constituency, all monitored with CCTV cameras to ensure smooth voting. According to the Election Commission’s voter turnout app, Handwara assembly constituency, which is Sajjad Lone’s home district, saw the highest turnout at 72%, while Sopore assembly constituency saw the lowest turnout at 40.1%. The Election Commission had set up 187 special polling stations of different categories mainly for Kashmiri migrant voters living in various relief camps to cast their votes.

There was 38.5% voting in Srinagar in the fourth phase, which was the highest since 1996. Thanking the voters of Jammu and Kashmir for exercising their right in large numbers, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told our associate newspaper The Times of India (TOI), ‘A large number of people in Jammu and Kashmir are voting for democratic governance. They are expressing confidence and the panel is encouraged to hold assembly elections there as soon as possible.