"Despite difficulties, people came in large numbers to cast vote": J-K chief electoral officer

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 20 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir chief electoral officer PK Pole on Monday commended the high voter turnout, 54.49 pc, in the union territory in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
"I want to congratulate the people that despite all the difficulties they came to vote in such huge numbers. This is a hilly area and some are snowbound areas and despite all this, they came to cast their votes and created history. Nowhere was the polling slow. Earlier there used to be less polling. This time the polling staff has also been well trained," Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer told ANI.
Voter turnout of 54.49% of was recorded in Jammu and Kashmir in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Polling took place in 2103 polling stations across the Baramulla Parliamentary constituency with live webcasting at the polling stations on Monday.
It is the first Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
CEC Shri Rajiv Kumar along with fellow Election Commissioners Shri Gyanesh Kumar and Shri Sukhbir Singh Sandhu while appreciating the efforts of both civil and security personnel in the smooth and peaceful conduct of elections in J&K said that a clear message has been given that people of Jammu and Kashmir are eager to exercise franchise and have their stakes in the democratic system of governance.
Notably, the BJP is not contesting from any of Jammu and Kashmir's three Lok Sabha seats--Srinagar, Baramulla, and Anantnag.
The electoral battle remained between two major regional parties, the National Conference (NC) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the valley.
The voting was held in eight states/UTs comprising Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal during the phase 5 Lok Sabha polls on Monday.
Cities like Mumbai, Thane, and Lucknow voted in this phase, which has in the past suffered from urban apathy in voting. Of the 49 Lok Sabha seats, 14 are from Uttar Pradesh, 13 from Maharashtra, 7 from West Bengal, 5 from Bihar, 3 from Jharkhand, 5 from Odisha, and one each from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. (ANI)