She said that in a democracy, everyone has the right to vote: “We are the citizens of this country.”
“We spoke to the deputy chief justice and he promised to address our issues but nothing happened. There are many people like me who could not vote today,” she said.
Deepak Kumar said there are six members in his family but only one was able to vote.
“It is clear what is happening to us. I am a resident of Matang. I have a ration card and other documents. We have faced a lot of hardships to survive here. If this is true, the government should make it clear to us and allow us to relocate somewhere else,” Deepak Kumar said, showing his voter ID card at a polling station.
Vinod Kumar, whose name was not on the voter list, said, “I had voted earlier but today I was not allowed to vote. I don’t know the reason but the authorities clearly told me that I cannot vote here.”
Vinod Kumar said his father was involved in politics. “We were very active in politics. But it is sad that we cannot vote,” he said.
“We also want our own representatives who will voice us in Parliament but what can we expect when we are deprived of our fundamental rights? Kashmir is my birth land. Where else can I go? I spoke to the ARO (Deputy Election Officer) but he said he can’t do anything,” he said.
Prominent Pandit Party leader in Kashmir, Ravinder Pandita, also expressed surprise that the names of members of his community have been omitted from the voters’ roll.
“…Last year there was an effort to include us in the Kashmir voters’ roll but only one in five made it. How does this work? Disappointing,” Pandita wrote to X.
He urged the Election Commission and the Chief Election Officer of Janata Kashmir to revise the electoral rolls for the upcoming state assembly elections in the union territory.
“Our vote matters in the (Kashmir) Valley. We cannot be prevented from exercising our right to vote for our motherland,” he said.
By 5 pm, the constituency recorded a voter turnout of 51.35 percent. Twenty candidates, including PDP leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, are contesting from the constituency.
Mehbooba faces strong challenges from National Conference leader Mian Altaf and Zafar Iqbal Khan Manhas of the BJP-backed Apni Party. Democratic Progressive Party (DPAP) leader Mohammad Saleem Paree and 10 independents are also trying to contest from the constituency.
