New Delhi: “Preventive arrests”, “area domination exercises, patrolling and flag marches” and “awareness programmes” — this is what led to a high voter turnout in the parliamentary elections in the Kashmir Valley after decades, a senior government officer told ThePrint.
“It was a herculean task. We had instructions that all resources should be pooled in to ensure that the voter turnout is good and the voter is able to go out and cast their vote without fear,” a senior police officer said.
In the last two months, the police made several preventive arrests of “troublemakers”, including “over ground workers still active in the valley, people with separatist tendencies and detained miscreants and people with history of criminal cases,” police sources said.
Besides these, the police also carried out public meetings to convince people to exercise their vote.
“From making preventive arrests to detentions, carrying out flag marches, area domination exercises, night patrolling, we did it all. We also carried out continuous anti-terrorist operations with assistance of other security forces to ensure that the people could step out to vote without any fear,” a police source said. “This was unprecedented as people came out to vote without covering their faces, which was rare in the valley. Hardly anyone used to come out to vote, fearing the terrorists. Anyone who did, would cover their face,” the source said.
The source said that action taken by static surveillance teams and flying squad teams which were established under ECI guidelines, also played a role.
“These teams were constituted for keeping vigil for movement of arms, ammunition, distribution of items of bribe in cash or kind,” the source said.
Over the past two decades, voter turnout in Parliamentary elections hovered at a meagre 1 to 2 percent in areas of Sopore, Shopian, Pulwama and Tral — hotbeds of militancy — owing to calls by militants for boycotts. Stone-pelting incidents were rampant, and hartals were a norm. However, this time, as J&K polled, for the first time after abrogation of Article 370, it recorded an all-time high voter turnout since 1996.
While Shopian and Tral, and Pulwama, voter turnout defied expectations, standing at 47.88 percent, 40.29 percent, and 43.42 percent, respectively, Sopore, a stronghold of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, saw a dramatic shift in voter behaviour, with turnout surging to 44.2 percent from just 4 percent recorded in 2019.
According to Jammu and Kashmir officials, this underscored a notable shift towards increased civic engagement and participation in these regions. In fact, the areas that were most affected by terrorism in the villages came out to vote more than the city, a senior officer said.
The total voter turnout in Srinagar constituency was recorded to be 38.40 percent, up from 13 percent in 2019. Baramulla parliamentary constituency recorded 59 percent turnout, up from 34.6 percent in 2019, and Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat, reconstituted after delimitation, reported a 52.28 percent voter turnout.
Erstwhile Anantnag saw a turnout of 8.98 percent in the 2019 elections. The comparison, however, is complex, given the constituency’s reconfiguration, which now includes parts of the Jammu region known for high electoral participation. The erstwhile Anantnag constituency encompassed the entire districts of Pulwama and Shopian.
After delimitation, Pulwama and one of Shopian’s two assembly segments were incorporated into the Srinagar constituency. Consequently, the districts of Rajouri and Poonch from the Jammu region were integrated into the Anantnag constituency.
As voters queued up at booths, they told ThePrint that they are driven by a collective aspiration for the “betterment of Kashmir” and the desire to express their electoral mandate. The voters emphasised the pressing need for political representation in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under Governor’s rule since 2018. The surge in voter participation also marked a generational shift, with first-time voters and even individuals in their 50s and 60s casting ballots for the first time.
Also read: ‘Bijli, paani’ or Kashmir’s ‘identity crisis’? What will drive elections in Srinagar, 1st since 2019
‘Improved security environment’
Speaking to ThePrint, a second senior police officer said that the credit goes to the “improved security environment” in the valley in the last four to five years.
The officer said that the political activity in Kashmir was nil, which has now changed.
“The political parties would not care to campaign or conduct rallies in these areas as these were strongholds of particular leaders. Moreover, there are so many pockets that were separatist strongholds that would boycott elections altogether. There was no political process. This is a big change,” the officer said.
This election, all candidates from across parties came out to campaign and all of them were facilitated by the police, the officer explained.
“They conducted rallies, roadshows, and political meetings which are extremely healthy. This was completely missing from the roads of Kashmir in the last two decades. What we made sure of was that we gave these parties security to ensure that they do go out to hold these political meetings and rallies,” the officer said.
The officer added that strict measures were also taken for stopping stone pelting.
“We worked constantly for two months to ensure that no incident takes place. This is a fragile ecosystem and needs extra care. There were inputs of target killings so we were on our toes to prevent incidents,” the officer said.
“It helped in stability and created an enabling environment for the voters. Moreover, awareness programmes taken by civil administration and voters’ mobilisation by the candidates and political parties also helped,” the officer said.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
Also read: Smiles, hope & will for change — inside Srinagar polling booths that saw highest turnout in decades