New Delhi:
Nestled in the lap of picturesque mountains and valleys of Jammu and Kashmir, thousands of polling stations are ready to hold state elections over the next one and a half month.
Elections in the newly carved out Union territory will be held in three phases on September 18 and 25 and October 1. The votes will be counted on October 4.
As Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced the election dates on Friday afternoon, a special mention was about three polling stations that are unique due to their geographies.
Unique #PollingStations#Koragbal#Seemari#DalLake#ECI does #WhateverItTakes to reach every last voter traversing the difficulties of terrain or otherwise.#J&KElections pic.twitter.com/crkk3FccUi
— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) August 16, 2024
They are the Koragbal polling station, Seemari polling station and Dal Lake floating polling stations.
Koragbal polling station in Gurez assembly constituency is situated along the Line of Control – between Indian and Pakistani territories. It exclusively serves a 100% Scheduled Tribes (ST) population.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the polling station had recorded a voter turnout of 80.01%.
Seemari polling station is the country’s first polling station in Kupwara district. It consistently achieves high voter turnout despite logistical and security challenges, the Election Commission noted.
Read | J&K To Vote In 3 Phases, First Assembly Polls Since Article 370 Was Scrapped
The iconic Dal Lake in Srinagar has three floating polling stations. Ferries and Shikaras are used to take the polling team to there. The Khar Mohalla Aabi Karpora polling station on Dal Lake serves only three voters.
This ensures accessibility in otherwise unreachable areas, the EC said.
These will be part of the total 11,838 polling stations to be set up in 9,169 locations across the Union territory for its first state elections since the abrogation of special status in 2019.
Elections in Jammu and Kashmir has been pending since 2014 and it has been under Governor’s Rule since 2018.
