(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Braving the winter chill, an astounding over 13 lakh people, or 76 percent of the electorate, yesterday turned out to vote in the fifth and final round of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Officials termed the turnout "historic and unprecedented" and the highest in the last 25 years.
This brought down the curtains on the staggered five-phase elections that were largely peaceful, barring a major terror attack on December 5 in which 21 people, including eight soldiers, were killed.
State chief electoral officer Umang Narula said that balloting was "peaceful and incident-free", and there was no firing from across the border to disrupt the polling process. He said the fifth phase saw 76 percent turnout, the highest among all the rounds.
Narula said the overall turnout was 66 percent, while it was 56 percent in the 2008 elections. The tenure of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly is six years.
Of the 20 contituencies in Jammu, Kathua and Rajouri districts, 11 saw turnouts of 80 percent or more. Bani constituency in Kathua recorded the highest turnout of 83.2 percent, while Gandhinagar in Jammu saw the lowest of 60 percent.
Though polling, which took place in Jammu region, was peaceful, village headman Gulam Ahman Bhat was killed by terrorists in Kashmir's Baramulla district. Meanwhile, three police complaints were registered, including one against Congress candidate Manohar Lal Sharma from Billawar for allegedly beating up two police officials.
In New Delhi, Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi told the media the turnout was "historic" and "unprecedented".
For Jammu and Kashmir, it was the highest polling percentage in the last 25 years, he said. After a dull start, voters started lining up at polling stations as the fog lifted and the day warmed up. Polling started at 8am and ended at 4pm. Over 18 lakh voters were eligible to decide the fate of 213 candidates.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged voters to turn up in record numbers in the fifth and final phase. Results will be announced on December 23.
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