Poor Voter Turnout in Srinagar a Revulsion at Centre’s Normalcy Claim: Omar Abdullah

Srinagar: As almost three-fourths of voters stayed away from polling in the eight segments of Srinagar in the second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections on Wednesday, former chief minister and National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah has said that the poor turnout is a revulsion at the Centre’s parroting that people are turning to ballot because of the removal of Article 370.

He said, “To be honest, I was expecting higher turnout because there was no boycott call, there were no attacks, there were no threats or intimidation of the voters. I feel the Centre is also responsible for this”. Elaborating, he said, “They tried to present the high voter turnout as signs of normalcy and as if the people had accepted the revocation of Article 370. Maybe this was a reaction from Srinagar because the people of Srinagar do not want to send wrong signals.”

While 18 constituencies in Kangan, Ganderbal, Budgam Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi districts recorded an average 60 percent voter turnout, the eight segments of the Srinagar district clogged at a mere 29.81 percent on Wednesday.

Mr. Abdullah while speaking to reporters in the border town of Uri on Thursday also said that the Narendra Modi government committed another mistake by inviting New Delhi-based foreign diplomats to visit Srinagar for observing polling. He said, “Maybe they wanted to showcase higher voter turnout in Srinagar as a sign of major change. The people of Srinagar did not want they be used in this manner, so they voted in lesser numbers. However, I am thankful to those who came out to vote, irrespective of who they voted for.”

A group of New Delhi-based diplomats of fifteen countries including the United States, South Korea, South Africa, Spain and Singapore had on Wednesday observed the voting in Srinagar as 26 constituencies went to the polls in the second phase of the Assembly elections. While the official circles here termed the unprecedented invite extended by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to the foreign envoys to watch how free and fair elections are being held in J&K a significant diplomatic move to silence India’s detractors, the opposition questioned the wisdom behind it asserting that it tantamount to inviting foreign interference in an internal matter of the country.