Jammu: The Anantnag parliamentary constituency witnessed highest voter turnout of Kashmir Pandit migrant community voters among all the three Lok Sabha constituencies of Kashmir valley.
During the sixth phase around 40 percent Kashmir Pandit migrant voters casted their votes in 21 polling stations in Jammu district. Out of the 25250 total eligible electorates, 9924 voters exercised their franchise which includes 5426 male and 4498 female voters.
Giving details, officials told KNO that the polling remained peaceful all over the 21 polling stations established by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and voters were facilitated by the officials present on the ground.
This phase witnessed overwhelming response of Kashmiri Pandit migrant voters as compared to the two previous phases. For Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, 37.8 percent KP migrant voters had exercised their franchise whereas for Baramulla seat, 31.29 percent KP migrant voters had casted their votes.
For Anantnag seat the total percentage of KP votes polled stood at 39.3 percent which is expected to increase as the final data was being compiled.
KP migrant people have been living in different parts of Jammu district since 1990 when they were forced to leave the Kashmir valley after the eruption of arms insurgency. Since then KP leaders have been demanding a separate homeland in Kashmir to return.
To keep their identity intact, KP migrant community living in Jammu and elsewhere register themselves as voters of their ancestral villages and towns. They didn’t shift their votes to the present place of living even after constructing homes in different locations—(KNO)
