KEY TAKEAWAYS

77% voters participated in the 1987 assembly polls in Kashmir valley. This is the highest ever voter turnout recorded in Kashmir. Two years later, after alleged rigging of the 1987 polls ignited large-scale militancy, voter participation in the valley fell to just 3%, the lowest ever.

Voter turnout took time to recover once elections were restored and had already assumed a downward trajectory after PDP formed the state government in alliance with BJP in 2015. Voter turnout in elections is one of the most important figures worth watching out for in Kashmir valley as far as the success or failure of nullification of Article 370 is concerned.