Srinagar/Baramulla/Jammu, Oct 1 (UNI) Jammu and Kashmir voters cast their ballot enthusiastically amid tight security on Tuesday as the first six hours of polling in the third and last phase of assembly elections recorded a turnout of 44.08 percent till 1 pm in 40 assembly constituencies spread across seven districts, election officials said.
J&K is voting for the first time in an assembly election in a decade. These are also the first assembly polls held in the erstwhile state after the Narendra Modi government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 in August 2019 and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.
The results of the 90-seat assembly polls will be declared on October 8.
In a social media post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi encouraged voters and said, “Today is the third and last round of voting in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. I request all voters to come forward and cast their votes to make the festival of democracy a success.”
Voting remained peaceful across the 40 constituencies till 1 pm and appeared to be picking up with each passing hour after it started at 7 am. Till 11 am, the turnout stood at 28.12 percent, while in the first two hours till 9 am the voting percentage was 11.06 percent.
Earlier, the election office shared details of voting pattern in the first four hours. In Jammu region Bani, Jasrota, Billawar, Udhampur, Ramnagar and Chhamb assembly constituencies registered over 34 percent polling till 11 am. The lowest 21.9 percent was recorded at Jammu West and 21.56 in Jammu East till 11 am.
In Kashmir valley, 33.38 percent voting was recorded at Gurez, 29.99 percent in Handwara, 29.2 percent in Karnah, 28.89 percent in Sonawari and 26.4 percent Uri assembly constituencies while the lowest 17.28 percent voting was registered in Sopore till 11 am.
About 100-year-old Mala Begum cast her vote at the Pink Polling Station at Chattibandi in Bandipora and another elderly woman identified as Khatija, carried to the polling booth on shoulders by her son, polled her vote in Uri assembly segment.
In the last phase of the assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir, over 39 lakh electors will decide the fate of 415 candidates.
The 40 assembly constituencies in the last phase of voting include 16 in three districts of the Kashmir Valley (Kupwara, Baramulla, and Bandipora) and 24 in the four districts of Jammu division (Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua, and Samba).
While the Baramulla assembly segment of North Kashmir leads with the highest 25 candidates in the poll fray, the Akhnoor Assembly constituency of Jammu district will witness a triangular contest during this phase.
Enthusiastic voters reached the polling booths and stood in queues waiting for their turn to exercise their right to franchise as the voting started at 7 am and will end at 6 pm.
Security personnel have been deployed in strength around the polling stations. A multi-tier security blanket has been thrown around each polling station to ensure voting takes place in an atmosphere free of fear.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has established a total of 5,060 polling stations with webcasting across 40 assembly seats.
The 16 seats in Kashmir include Karnah, Trehgam, Kupwara,Lolab, Handwara, Langate, Sopore, Rafiabad, Uri, Baramulla, Gulmarg, Wagoora -Kreeri, Pattan, Sonawari, Bandipora, Gurez (ST)
The 24 seats of Jammu division where voting is on include Udhampur West, Udhampur East, Chenani, Ramnagar(SC), Bani, Billawar, Basohli, Jasrota, Kathua, Hiranagar, Ramgarh(SC), Samba, Vijaypur, Bishnah(SC), Suchetgarh(SC), R.S.Pura–Jammu South, Bahu, Jammu East, Nagrota, Jammu West, Jammu North, Marh(SC), Akhnoor (SC) and Chhamb.
There are several notable candidates whose fate will be decided on Tuesday. There are over nearly two dozen former ministers and law makers whose fate will be sealed on Tuesday.
The key candidates include former deputy chief minister and Congress leader Tara Chand who is contesting from Chhamb Assembly constituency, former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig who is fighting as as an Independent candidate from Baramulla; Sajad Lone of Peoples Conference; Bashaarat Bukhari of Peoples Democratic Party; Choudhary Ramazan of National Conference; Sham Lal Sharma and Devender Singh Rana of Bharatiya Janata Party and Choudary Lal Singh of Congress, Usman Majeed among others.
In Kashmir, all eyes are on Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) headed by Member parliament Abdul Rashid Sheikh popularly known as Engineer Rashid who was released from Tihar jail on interim bail and rigorously campaigned for the assembly polls.
In the first phase of polls, about 61 per cent of the electorate in Jammu and Kashmir turned out to vote. In the second phase held last week, total voter turnout was 57.3 per cent.
According to the latest electoral rolls, 39,18,220 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in this phase, comprising 20,09,033 male voters, 19,09,130 female voters, and 57 third-gender voters.
Underlining the significance of the role to be played by the youth of Jammu and Kashmir in strengthening the democracy, as many as 1.94 lakh youth voters aged 18 to 19 are eligible to vote in the third phase, said an official.
