Only 32 Kashmiri Pandits on Saturday cast their votes in Jammu and 4 in Udhampur for 15 District Development Council (DDC) constituencies of Kashmir Valley.
Out of total 25 DDC constituencies in phase-I in Kashmir, the polling station was established for 15 DDC constituencies in Jammu and Udhampur districts for migrant voters.
In Jammu, the polling station was established at Government College for Women in Gandhi Nagar. Of the 32 votes cast in Jammu, the Relief Commissioner TK Bhat told the Greater Kashmir: “11 votes were polled for Rafiabad seat, 15 votes for Pahalgam, 3 for DH Pora in Kulgam district and 3 for Khan Sahab.”
“In Udhampur district, only 4 votes were polled by the migrant voters for Rafiabad constituency,” he added.
When asked about low voter turnout, the Commissioner responded that none of the contesting candidates had come to Jammu for campaigning or had any interaction with the migrant voters and it might be one of the reasons.
ARO Jammu Migrants, Anshuman Singh said: “Out of around 4800 migrant voters, 32 cast their votes in Jammu. We had arranged vehicles to transport voters to the polling stations, but unfortunately there was low turnout.”
The polling staff told the Greater Kashmir, “Only 3 votes were polled for Khansahab DDC constituency till 12:30 pm. No one cast vote for Gurez candidates, Tangdhar (Kupwara).” Similarly, for DDC constituency Kralpora, no one turned up to vote.