Kashmir News: After Srinagar's highest voter turnout, will Baramulla break the 1996 record in phase 5 polling today?

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Lok Sabha Elections 2024 today, May 20. The constituency in north Kashmir is one of the three seats in the Kashmir division of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)—other than Srinagar and Anantnag-Rajouri—where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not fielded any candidates. The seat comprises assembly segments of Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, and Budgam districts.

Follow all Live Updates on Phase 5 Polling here Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) chief Sajad Lone are the main contenders for the seat. Independent candidate Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, is also in the fray, along with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Fayaz Ahmad Mir. Also Read: Engineer Rashid, jailed under UAPA, electrifies phase 5 Lok Sabha contest in Baramulla today Srinagar voted in the fourth phase of polling on May 13, and Anantnag-Rajouri will go to the polls in the sixth phase on May 25.

Srinagar recorded a record 38 per cent voter turnout during polling on May 13. This was the highest voting per centage in the constituency since the 1996 general elections when it saw 41 per cent of voters exercising their franchise. After Srinagar's record, all eyes are on the two seats – Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri.

Past election records say that both the seats have registered higher voter turnout than the predominantly urban Srinagar seats. In 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Baramulla saw a voter turnout of 35 per cent as against 14.43 per cent turnout in Srinagar. In 2014 elections, Baramulla recorded 39 per cent turnout as against 25.86 per cent in Srinagar.