Defense News

India

Around 14,000 new Kashmiri Pandit migrant voters have registered for the three Lok Sabha seats in the valley, bringing the total figure to 1.13 lakh, as per the Relief and Rehabilitation Department. This surge marks a notable increase since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when approximately 99,000 migrant Kashmiri Pandits were registered as voters, with the BJP securing 86% of their votes.

Migrant Pandits are those who fled the Kashmir valley during the mass militancy of the 1990s. According to government figures, 60,000 families migrated due to militant violence, including 40,142 Hindu families, 2,684 Muslim families, and 1,730 Sikh families.

Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner Arvind Karwani urged migrant voters to participate in large numbers and exercise their democratic right. Facilities have been arranged, with authorized officers distributing and attesting M-forms on the spot.

The Relief and Rehabilitation Department has been conducting special awareness camps for Kashmiri migrants, particularly Pandits, in various locations like Jammu and Udhampur, to inform them about the voting scheme allowing them to cast votes from outside the Kashmir valley.

Migrant voters have two options: filling out an M-form to vote in special polling booths or casting votes through postal ballots using Form-12C. Twenty-six polling stations, including 21 in Jammu, four in Delhi, and one in Udhampur, have been set up for Kashmiri Pandit migrant voters.

Special awareness drives are underway in migrant camps and non-camp areas with concentrations of Kashmiri migrants in Jammu and Delhi to ensure maximum participation.

With these developments, the electoral landscape for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls reflects the growing engagement of Kashmiri Pandit migrant voters in the democratic process.