Assembly Elections J&K: Did People Really Vote in Large Numbers? 

As there was no election boycott call from Hurriyat or any other militant groups, it was expected that voter turnout would go up in the second phase of assembly elections in J&K especially in Srinagar for which elections were held on Wednesday, September 25th. 

The phase one of elections was held on September 18^th 2024 in South Kashmir’s Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama districts. In addition, Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts of Chenab valley of Jammu also went for polls on the same date. The third phase of elections will be held on October 1^st and during this last phase of elections, North Kashmir’s Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora and Jammu division’s Kathua, Samba, Udhampur & Jammu districts will go for polling. The counting of votes in J&K will be done on October 8^th.

The Assembly Elections in J&K are being held after a gap of 10 years and for the last 6 years J&K is under central rule. In these 10 years, a lot of political developments have happened. In June 2018, BJP took back support from the PDP led government and J&K was brought under President’s Rule. Then, on August 5^th 2019, the Article 370 of Indian Constitution was repealed and J&K was bifurcated into two Union Territories (J&K and Ladakh). For more than 5 years, the Lieutenant Governor appointed by the BJP Government at centre has been looking after the administrative affairs in J&K. The LG directly reports to the Union Home Ministry and this had created a governance deficit in J&K even as several initiatives on the administrative and development front had been initiated by the LG administration. 

Srinagar residents reluctant to vote?

There has been an anger among people against the abrogation of Article 370 as well as subsequent developments that took place since 2019. J&K is being ruled by bureaucrats and elections for urban and rural local bodies have not been conducted for 10 months. 

It was assumed that people would exercise their franchise in large numbers in areas which had boycotted elections in the past; areas such as Srinagar. However, the voting percentage has not risen as was expected. 

It seems that people are reluctant to vote in Srinagar and don’t want to waste their time standing outside the polling booths. 

People in Srinagar see voting in elections and standing in queues outside polling stations as an act of abjectness and dishonour. The reason is a narrative that popped up in the last 35 years against mainstream politics in J&K. Even as there were no boycott calls, no militant threats, protests and stone pelting in Srinagar’s downtown, people voluntarily didn’t go out to vote. 

In Habbakadal, the voter turnout has come down and was lower than 2014 elections. In the 2014 assembly elections, the voter turnout was as low as 21.31 %.  This has come further down to a mere 18.39 % this time. 

This is a matter of serious concern. 

Voter turnout declined in Budgam, Charar and Budhal  

The second phase of elections were held in 6 districts of J&K namely Srinagar, Ganderbal and Budgam in Kashmir division and Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu division. Srinagar recorded the lowest turnout of 29%.

In Budgam, the voter turnout was 58.97 % , in Ganderbal it was 58.81%, Poonch recorded 71% voting and Reasi and Rajouri saw 71% and 68% voter turnout respectively.  

In rural assembly segments like Charar e Sharief, the voter turnout was 67.44%. However, it saw a 15% decline when compared to 2014, when the voter turn out here was 82.44 %. 

Similarly, in Budgam, the voter turnout was 66.32% in 2014, which is 15% higher than the ongoing 2024 assembly elections. Even in Budhal constituency in Rajouri district which witnessed 82 % voting  in 2014 assembly elections, the voter turnout was 66%, hence witnessing a 16 % decline. 

Boycotts and Rigging in Past Elections 

Srinagar has been a traditional stronghold of the National Conference. But after the arrest of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the National Conference was converted mostly into Mahaz Raishumara (Plebiscite Front) and most of its leaders would boycott the local assembly elections. Some leaders would contest as independents. It is alleged that the elections held from 1957 to 1972 were rigged in many places and the people didn’t get the feel of a real democracy. Researchers and political commentators say that the assembly election held in 1977, soon after the release of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was relatively free and fair. 

Wajahat Habibullah, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS of 1968 batch), who served in J&K had told me long back that 1977 elections were conducted in a transparent manner across J&K especially in Srinagar. During that time, Wajahat was posted as District Magistrate Srinagar. After 1977, elections were again said to have been allegedly rigged, especially in 1987 which gave rise to militancy. 

Past Assembly Elections in Srinagar 

The elections for J&K Legislative Assembly have been held in 1957,1962,1967, 1972,1977, 1983, 1987, 1996, 2002, 2008, 2014. In addition, the election for Jammu & Kashmir constituent assembly was also held in 1951. The ongoing 2024 election is the 13^th election that is being held in J&K. J&K has witnessed a huge participation of people in elections. The assembly elections held in 1977, 1983 and 1987 saw massive participation of people and Srinagar had witnessed more than 70% turnout in these elections. 

Some assembly segments in Srinagar had a polling percentage as high as 80% to 90%. The voter turnout after 1990 came down and this was the lowest in 2002 Assembly Elections. The voter turnout in Khanyar ,Zadibal and Amira Kadal assembly segments of Srinagar was a mere 3% to 4% while in 1983 assembly elections, the polling percentage was as high as 89% in Zadibal assembly segment, which is a record. Sheikh Abdul Rashid of National Conference got 88% of total votes polled that time. This time the polling percentage in Zadibal has been merely 28 %. The people have again boycotted these elections.

Right from 1960, the Khanyar assembly constituency has witnessed brisk polling. This continued till 1987 and then there was a huge decline in voting percentage as people chose to boycott these elections. In 1972, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Qari Safudin who later on became  Jamat Ameer also won election from Khanyar. He secured 9530 votes and his nearest rival Abdul Rahman Gazi managed to get only 2176 votes. Gazi was a staunch NC leader but in 1972 he was contesting as an independent candidate as his party was boycotting elections. 

In 1972, more than 62% polling was recorded in Khanyar. The voter turnout in Khanyar was 26.16 % in 2014 assembly elections which now stands lower at only 26.08 %. 

Suggestions for ECI 

Under Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), the Election Commission of India (ECI) spends a lot of money on voter awareness. Who monitors these programmes? Are there any proper guidelines that are to be followed during voter awareness? What kind of innovative activities are to be taken up? Is Design Thinking done before the activities taken up under SVEEP? Who designed the voter awareness module under SVEEP? 

The Commission claims to be producing several voter awareness materials and disseminates the same through various mediums/platforms of communication i.e Print Media, Electronic Media, Social Media etc. These programmes are mostly held just 15 or 20 days before elections. 

The programmes under SVEEP should be conducted at least 6 months in advance before the elections. More focus should be directed towards those assembly segments where there is low voter turnout. ECI must also hire researchers to undertake surveys to look into voter turn out trends. The higher secondary schools and colleges should be the target in these areas to ensure students understand the importance of electoral democracy.  

• Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer

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