Record voting in Srinagar; youths in valley pick ballot over bullet

Pulwama: Forgetting the dark past and looking forward towards a brighter future, people across the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency qued up to cast their vote.

In the first Lok Sabha elections after the abrogation of Article 370, Srinagar is witnessing record voting for the first time.

The youth, who were contracted by anti-national forces in the valley for throwing stones until 2019, are now embracing ballot over bullet.

As a result, the voter turnout in the Srinagar constituency broke all previous records.

The voter turnout on the Srinagar seat was recorded at 35.75% till 5 pm.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the total turnout for the seat was around 14.43 per cent, while in 2014, it was 25.86 per cent.

First-time voters in South Kashmir's Pulwama Monday said that a vote is more powerful than a gun and people must vote for the candidate who will raise their voice in Parliament.

Talking to NewsDrum, a first-time voter Riyaz Ahmad said, "We have different challenges such as safeguarding our identity, land, resources, unemployment and others but if we will choose the right candidate, these all issues get resolved," he said.

Other voters also said that voting has the power to cure all issues but "you need to choose your candidate rightly."

They said that all voters must come and cast their vote in favour of a candidate who is honest, bold and genuinely can raise their main issue in parliament.