PM happy, Azad disappointed; For Mehbooba its expression against Art 370 abrogation
Srinagar, May 14:
An increased vote percentage in polling for Srinagar Lok Sabha Constituency that has recorded 37.99 per cent has interpreted differently by different quarters and discourse is going on. While New Delhi takes it as an endorsement to the changes in political and governance it brought since August 05, 2019, others NC, PDP and DPAP chief Ghulam Nabi Azad drawn different meaning to it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his gratitude to the people who voted in large numbers in Srinagar Parliamentary constituency stating that the abrogation of Article 370 has enabled the potential and aspirations of the people to find full expression.
PM Modi wrote on X: “Would especially like to applaud the people of Srinagar Parliamentary constituency for the encouraging turnout, significantly better than before.
The abrogation of Article 370 has enabled the potential and aspirations of the people to find full expression. Happening at the grassroots level, it is great for the people of J&K, in particular you.
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the Narendra Modi Government’s decision to abrogate Article 370 is showing results in the poll percentage in Jammu and Kashmir and has enhanced people’s trust in democracy, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.
The Home Minister’s remarks came a day after about 38 per cent polling was recorded in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency where polling was held in the 4th phase of the general elections.
People’s Democratic Party president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said that voters turned out in large numbers in the Srinagar parliamentary constituency was a message that the decisions made in August 2019 and after that, are unacceptable to them.
The PDP chief said the good turnout in the Srinagar Parliamentary seat will be followed by similar participation in the Anantnag-Rajouri and north Kashmir seats.
DPAP chief Ghulam Nabi Azad Tuesday said the voter turnout in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency is not high enough to know whether the people are happy or angry with the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories in 2019.
The Srinagar constituency witnessed 37.98 per cent voting on Monday in the first Lok Sabha election in the valley since the scrapping of Article 370, with the Election Commission (EC) stating that it was the “highest turnout in decades”.
Azad said, “I had hoped that Kashmir will witness 80 to 90 per cent turnout in view of what has been happening in the past seven to eight years. Article 370 was removed, statehood was snatched. So I thought the turnout will be high, like 90 to 95 per cent.
“The increase of a few per cent hardly matters as it happens in every constituency of India. That way, we cannot know whether the people are angry or happy (with the abrogation of Article 370 and snatching of statehood). It is a new thing for me,” Azad told reporters while campaigning for his party candidate in Kulgam district.
Srinagar recorded 14.43 per cent polling in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 25.86 per cent in 2014, 25.55 per cent in 2009 and 18.57 per cent in 2004.
The Modi Government abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, in 2019 and bifurcated the erstwhile State into two Union Territories’ Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
