After the special status of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir was revoked in 2019, the people of Srinagar are exercising their right to vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections for the first time.
Elections in India are being held in seven phases over six weeks, with the fourth phase starting on Monday, with the people of Srinagar exercising their right to vote.
According to the Indian journal Hindustan Times, 24 candidates are in the fray for the Lok Sabha constituency from Srinagar in the fourth phase of the election and about 1.748 million people are eligible to vote.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, polling was held for six seats in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP won three seats in Jammu while the National Conference candidates were declared successful in the remaining three.
After the abrogation of Article 370, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
According to the Times of India, in the 2024 elections, five seats are being contested in Jammu and Kashmir, of which two are in the Hindu-majority region of Jammu and three are in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir. Voting has been held in the two constituencies of Jammu, Udhampur and Jammu, on April 19 and 26 respectively.
Meanwhile, elections have been announced in three constituencies of Kashmir, Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag Rajouri on May 13, 20 and 25 respectively.
Two thousand 135 polling stations have been set up in five districts of Srinagar where the polling process will continue from 7 am to 6 pm today, while the Election Commission has made strict security arrangements at the polling booths in Srinagar.
Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have not fielded their candidates in Srinagar for the 2024 general elections, while a contest between the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party is expected.
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People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti has alleged that her party workers are being harassed and detained illegally. He has mentioned these allegations in his letter to the Election Commission.
According to news agency AFP, for the first time since 1996, the BJP did not field a candidate in the three seats of Kashmir, Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag Rajouri.
Experts say that even if the BJP had fielded a candidate, it would have faced defeat.
Political analyst and historian Siddique Wahid told AFP last week that “he would have lost” and that “Kashmiris see this election as a referendum on Narendra Modi’s policies.”
In the 2024 elections, the remaining two seats of Kashmir will go to polls in Baramulla on May 20 and Anantnag Rajouri on May 25.
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2024-06-10 02:31:28