Srinagar: The higher voter turnout in Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency post abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 can be attributed to various factors including the Jamaat-e-Islami group’s announcement to take the electoral plunge if the ban on it was lifted by the government, highly placed officials have said.
Out of 17,32,459 eligible electorate, a total of 10,07,636 voters (58.17 per cent) exercised their franchise in the constituency — an all-time high since its establishment in 1967. The parliamentary seat is spread across 16 assembly segments of Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara districts and two segments of Budgam district.
While the BJP views the increased participation as a rejection of past governance under the Congress, regional parties like the National Conference and the PDP interpret the historic turnout as a denouncement of the Centre’s policies towards Jammu and Kashmir.
The JeI, which was banned by the central government for five years in February 2019 for terror activities, played a clandestine role in mobilising voters, highly placed officials monitoring the situation said.
According to them, the role of the JeI in significantly impacting the voting dynamics in specific areas like Chicloora, Soibug, Naidkhai, Chitti Bandi, Seelu, and Qaziabad cannot be denied.
JeI was part of the separatist amalgam of Hurriyat Conference which spearheaded poll boycott campaigns after its formation in 1993.
However, the socio-religious outfit remained neutral after the division of Hurriyat between moderates and hardliners in 2003.
Former JeI chief Ghulam Qadir Wani recently said his organisation will participate in assembly elections if the Centre revokes the ban imposed on the outfit.

KR Desk