Srinagar, Voting was held on 26 seats on Wednesday in the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, out of which 20 areas were such where voting was less than the 2014 assembly elections. According to the data released by the Election Commission of India, in the 2014 assembly elections, the total voting percentage in the assembly constituencies of those six districts was more than 60 percent where votes were cast today.

Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir PK Pole said on Wednesday that an estimated 56.05 percent voting took place in six districts. Pole said that voting was still going on at some polling stations till 6:45 pm, during this time these figures are provisional and there is a possibility of a slight increase in it.

In the 2014 elections here, there were 25 assembly constituencies in Srinagar, Ganderbal, Budgam, Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch districts. However, after the delimitation done in 2022, the number of seats in these six districts has increased by one to 26. Five assembly constituencies in Srinagar district saw higher voter turnout than in the 2014 elections, while all other assembly constituencies in the remaining five districts recorded a decline in voting percentage.

Budgam (66.32 per cent 2014) and Charar-e-Sharif (82.44 per cent 2014) assembly constituencies in central Kashmir saw the highest drop in polling at 15 per cent, while Budhal (82.50 per cent 2014) assembly constituency recorded a 14 per cent drop in voting.

Though the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi constituency in Reasi district recorded the highest voter turnout of 79.95 per cent this year, it is lower than the 82.68 per cent recorded in 2014, when the constituency was known as Gool Arnas. Habbakadal assembly constituency, which has a large number of migrant voters, recorded the lowest polling of 18.39 per cent, while 10 years ago it had recorded 21.31 per cent polling.

According to the poll, in Jammu division, Gulabgarh recorded 73.49 per cent polling, Surankot 75.11 per cent, Reasi 71 per cent, Nowshera 72 per cent, Kalakote-Sunderbani 68.71 per cent, Poonch-Haveli 74.92 per cent, Rajouri 70.64 per cent, Budhal 68.58 per cent, Thannamandi 69.66 per cent and Mendhar 71.08 per cent. In the Kashmir Valley, Khansahib recorded 71.66 per cent voting, Kangan 71.89 per cent, Charar-e-Sharif 67.44 per cent, Chadoora 55.25 per cent, Ganderbal 56.97 per cent, Beerwah 63.31 per cent and Budgam 51.13 per cent.