All 16 reserved constituencies record over 70% voting in J&K

BY Ishtiyak Kar
Srinagar, Oct 02 (KINS): All 16 assembly constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) recorded over 70% voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir.
It will be interesting to observe whether voters in these constituencies supported the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which introduced these reservations, or if there was any resentment among the people regarding this move.
The third phase of Jammu and Kashmir’s assembly elections recorded a voter turnout of approximately 68% on Tuesday, contributing to an overall polling percentage of around 63% across all three phases.
These elections, held on September 18, 25, and October 1, were the first since the abrogation of Article 370 and the first assembly elections in the region in a decade.
Jammu and Kashmir has a total of 90 assembly seats, 47 of which are in the Kashmir Valley and 43 in the Jammu division. Of the 90 seats, nine are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and seven for Scheduled Castes (SC). This development has introduced new challenges and opportunities, especially for the Gujjar and Pahari communities, key players in the region’s politics.
According to information available with Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS), all the reserved seats recorded over 70% voter turnout.
Marh assembly constituency, which reported the highest voter turnout of 81.47%, is also a SC-reserved seat.
As many as 1.6 million people from the Pahari ethnic group were added to the ST list in Jammu and Kashmir when the Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribe Amendment Bill in February 2024. This move extended reservation benefits to four ethnic groups just ahead of the elections, a step seen by many as part of the BJP’s strategy to strengthen its electoral base in the region.
The voter turnout for the first phase was 61.38%, dropped to 57.31% in the second phase, and then increased to 69.65% in the final phase. Overall, the voter turnout was 62.78%.
The National Conference (NC) and Congress contested the elections jointly, while the BJP opted to run independently in Jammu but aligned with some candidates in Kashmir, fielding candidates in select constituencies. The political contest in Kashmir was primarily between the NC, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and smaller parties or independent candidates, while in Jammu, the battle appeared to be between Congress and BJP for most seats. (KINS)