Lok Sabha polls: Excitement, hope among first-time voters in Kashmir

Srinagar: With the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls announced, first-time voters in Kashmir are not only experiencing excitement but hope for a better future as well.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) actively promoted voter registration, with the introduction of multiple registration windows last year. There has been an addition of 3.40 lakh first-time voters in the Union Territory (UT), who are eager to participate in the “biggest festival of democracy.”

While first-time voters in elections around the world have always been gripped by excitement and hope, for Kashmir this time the case seems to be even more exacerbated. Since the last Parliament election, the erstwhile state lost its special status under Article 370 in August 2019 and was bifurcated into two UTs – Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh.

J&K is without an elected government for nearly six years which is the second longest ever time period that the region has gone without Assembly elections. Even at the peak of militancy in the early 1990s when J&K came under Central rule, the Assembly elections were held within a span of less than seven years, in 1996.

While all these issues will weigh heavily in the minds of voters in the UT, for the first time voters, who have grown up witnessing the turmoil and the struggle for democracy in the region, the vote can be a newfound sense of empowerment.

Nineteen-year-old college student, Arifa, an eager first-time voter, says for the first time in the last five years, the people of Kashmir have an opportunity to be heard. “This election is an opportunity for the people of J&K to show that they have not accepted the unilateral decisions taken by the Center in the last five years,” she told DH.

Her sentiment was echoed by Imtiyaz Dar, a polytechnic college student, who believes that collective voices could bring about meaningful changes in the region. “I am eagerly waiting for the voting day. Regardless of the outcome of the election in the country, we can play a part in shaping the destiny of our beloved Kashmir. I am hopeful for a brighter tomorrow,” he said.

Dar said he wants peace and progress and that will be his basis for voting for a certain candidate.

Among the 3.4 lakh first-time voters, around 1.35 lakh are female first-time voters. The Election Commission said that the electoral gender ratio of women voters has gone up as well. The number has increased from 945 in 2019 to 954 in 2024.