| Voters increasing in Kashmir, decreasing in Jammu and Ladakh | | Eyebrows raised | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 19: The population of Jammu province always was almost equal to Kashmir and the number of voters in Jammu till 2002 also was more as compared to Kashmir. But now things have changed and changed substantially making the concerned citizens of Jammu and Ladakh to say that "the manner in which the number of voters has been increasing in Kashmir and decreasing in Jammu and Ladakh is a matter of serious investigation".
It needs to be underlined that between 2001 and 2011, the difference in increase in population of Kashmir and Jammu was just 4 per cent. However, between 2002 and 2014, the number of voters in Kashmir increased by 5.67 lakhs, as against an increase of just 1.4 lakhs in Jammu. This steep increase in number of voters has raised eyebrows.
During the 2002 Assembly elections in J&K, the number of voters in Jammu was 30.26 lakh and in Kashmir 28.85 lakh. In Ladakh, the number of voters was 1.74 lakh. However, in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the story of voters in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh was totally different. The number of voters in Kashmir was 35.97 lakh and in Jammu province, it was 31.76 Lakh. In other words, the number of voters in Kashmir increased by 7.12 lakh and in Jammu, the number of voters increased only by 1.5 lakh. As for Ladakh, the number of voters was 1.60 lakh, 14,000 less than what it was in 2002 assembly election.
It is only natural that the concerned citizens in Jammu province are expressing concern over the way the number of voters in Kashmir is increasing and the number of voters is decreasing in both Jammu and Ladakh. Besides, they are questioning the very figures as contained in the latest census report, saying that "the population in Jammu is equal to Kashmir, if not more".
In the meantime, the J&K National Panthers Party's patron Bhim Singh has come out with a statement that assembly elections in J&K should be held only after the delimitation of the assembly constituencies. He has opposed the idea of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, saying the people of Jammu province have been denied a proper representation in the assembly. |
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