JK has recorded 46% Turnout in first phase of LS Elections

Jammu and Kashmir have recorded over 46 per cent turnout in Jammu and Baramulla constituencies, where voting is underway in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, even as there were protests over defective EVMs in some areas, officials said. These two constituencies house over 33 lakh electorate.

Baramulla Parliamentary Constituency :Baramulla: 19 percent; Kupwara: 38.7 percent; Bandipora: 26.1 percent

Jammu Parliamentary Constituency:Jammu: 59 percent; Samba: 66.6 percent; Rajouri: 58.4 percent; Poonch: 53.4 percent 

Polling for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections started at 7 am for the Baramulla and Jammu parliamentary seats. Baramulla constituency will send a first time parliamentarian to the Lok Sabha as none of the nine candidates in the fray have earlier been elected to either Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.

Those in the fray include Muhammad Akbar Lone of National Conference, Farooq Ahmad Mir of Congress, Raja Aijaz Ali of People’s Conference, Mohammad Maqbool War of BJP, Jahangir Khan of NPP, Abdul Qayoom Wani of PDP and independent candidates Javid Ahmad Qureshi, Syed Najeeb Shah Naqvi and Abdul Rashid Sheikh.

The National Conference and the PDP alleged that uniformed personnel “coerced” people to vote for the BJP and that EVMs malfunctioned in some places with Congress button not working in Jammu’s Poonch area.