Srinagar, May 13 (IANS): Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha congratulated the people and all stakeholders on the voter turnout in the Srinagar parliamentary constituency - the highest since the 1996 elections.

"Today, people came out in large numbers to cast their votes in Srinagar Parliamentary Constituency and reaffirmed their faith in democracy and the constitution. I commend the hard work by all the stakeholders for free, fair, peaceful and smooth conduct of the polling," he said in a tweet.

"It is heartening to see the huge surge in voting percentage in the biggest festival of democracy. I truly appreciate the enthusiasm of electors and hopeful to see historic turnout in the next two phases. I appeal to all to vote without fear and vote with responsibility and pride."

Turnout in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, where polling ended peacefully without any law & order incident and with all polling stations recording a good voter turnout, was pegged provisionally at nearly 37 per cent, officials said.

As per an EC statement, the turnout in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, which spans districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal, and Pulwama, and parts of Budgam and Shopian districts partly, was 36.58 per cent, as of 8 p.m.

This was the highest since 1996 when a 40.94 per cent turnout was recorded, and much higher than 14.43 per cent in 2019 and 25.86 per cent in 2014.