NEW DELHI, June 27: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday highlighted the high voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha elections and said Kashmir has given a befitting reply to the enemies of India by breaking polling records of many decades.
Addressing a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha, Murmu also said the Constitution has fully come into force in Jammu and Kashmir where things were different earlier due to Article 370.
Article 370, which accorded a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated by the Centre on August 5, 2019, and the erstwhile state was divided into two union territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
“A very heartening aspect of this election emerged from Jammu and Kashmir. The Kashmir Valley broke all records of voter turnout of many decades. In the last four decades, we had witnessed low voter turnout amidst shutdowns and strikes in Kashmir.
“Enemies of India continued to spread false propaganda at global fora, projecting it as the opinion of Jammu and Kashmir. But this time, the Kashmir Valley has given a befitting reply to every such element within the country and outside,” the President said.
According to the Election Commission, the three seats in the Kashmir Valley — Srinagar (38.49 per cent), Baramulla (59.1 per cent) and Anantnag-Rajouri (53 per cent) — recorded the highest voter turnout “in many decades” in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
