New Delhi: Announcing the dates for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the Lok Sabha polls in the Union Territory were a triumph of “ballot over bullet”.
Mr Kumar emphasised that the Lok Sabha elections, which were held in five phases between 19 April and May 20, had seen historic participation, with a voter turnout of 58.58%. The participation and the queues of voters, he said, was proof that people not only wanted change but wanted to be a part of the change.
“We went to Jammu and Kashmir to take stock of the poll preparedness recently. You would remember the long queues at polling stations during the Lok Sabha elections, which presented a spectacle of the strength of democracy. They weren’t just long queues, they represented the hopes of the people and their desire to write a new future for themselves. Everybody wanted to participate and prove a point that they were in the queue not only to vote but to demonstrate a very strong desire to ensure that democracy flourishes in this area,” Mr Kumar said in Hindi.
