Over 1.13 lakh Kashmiri migrants eligible to vote for 3 LS seats in Kashmir

Jammu, Apr 2 (PTI) Over 1.13 lakh Kashmiri migrants are registered to cast their votes for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections for three seats in the Valley, officials said.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration will hold special awareness camps for Kashmiri migrants in Jammu and Udhampur districts from April 3 to 14 to ensure their participation in the Lok Sabha elections.

“We have 1.13 lakh registered Kashmiri migrant voters as of now. The updated voter list is being prepared as per the election process,” Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner Arvind Karwani told PTI.

Karwani, who is looking after the arrangements for the polling of migrants, said that polling will be held in three phases in the Valley.

“In Anantnag, polling will be held on May 7, followed by Srinagar on May 13 and Baramulla on May 20. It will be held in three phases, and polling stations for each constituency will be the same,” Karwani said.

A total of 26 polling stations have been set up for the migrants, out of which 21 polling stations have been set up in Jammu, four in Delhi and one in Udhampur, Karwani said.

“The migrant voters can vote in two ways. First, they can do so by filling up an M-form, which is prior information and can vote in the special polling set up for them,” he said.

The second option is voting through postal ballots for which they have to fill up Form-12C.

“They can get a vote from the assistant returning officer (ARO) and cast it through the postal ballot process,” he said.

He further urged the Kashmir migrants to vote in large numbers.

“It is our appeal to all migrant voters to take part in voting in large numbers and exercise their democratic right. We have made facilities for them and authorised zonal officers and camp commandants to distribute and attest M-form on the spot,” he said.

Migrant voters from places like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai can also use the state Election Commission’s portal to get the M-form.

“The AROs have been appointed in Delhi, Jammu, and Udhampur for polling. Once they get the M-form, they will enlist their votes in particular polling stations as per the law,” he said.

“We are making all efforts to ensure that awareness about the voting process reaches migrant electors. For this, we have started special awareness camps from April 3.

The camps will be held in all the four migrant camps and non-camp areas where there is a major concentration of the Kashmir migrants in Jammu,” he said.

Efforts would be made to hold such camps in Delhi too, he added.