All set for Phase-I elections in J&K, seven districts to vote after a decade – Telangana Today

Over 23 lakh voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 independents, contesting from 24 Assembly constituencies.

Srinagar/Jammu: Seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir located on either side of the Pir Panjal range will go to assembly for the first time in a decade when the stage is set for the first phase of voting in the union territory on Wednesday.

More than 2.3 million voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 independents, contesting in 24 constituencies – eight in three districts of the Jammu region and 16 in four districts of the Kashmir Valley.

These will be the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. According to the Election Commission (EC), a total of 2,327,580 voters are eligible to vote in Phase 1, including 1,176,462 male, 1,151,058 female and 60 third gender voters.

“As many as 1.23 lakh youth between the ages of 18 and 19 years, along with 28,309 persons with disabilities and 15,774 elderly voters above 85 years of age will also be eligible to exercise their franchise in phase one,” an EC official said. The official said a total of 14,000 polling agents would monitor the process at 3,276 polling stations and ensure smooth conduct of the elections.

“There are 302 urban polling stations and 2,974 rural polling stations. Each polling station will have four polling agents, including the returning officer. In total, more than 14,000 polling agents will be deployed for the first phase of voting,” he said.

“With the first phase of voting taking place on September 18, Jammu and Kashmir Police has made extensive security arrangements for the assembly elections to ensure that as many people as possible can exercise their right to vote,” said VK Birdi, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone.

Security arrangements include multi-tiered forces of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF), Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police and JK Police, Birdi added. Prominent candidates in Kashmir include Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami of the CPI (M), AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Sakina Itoo of the National Conference and Sartaj Madni and Abdul Rehman Veeri of the PDP. Iltija Mufti of the PDP, who is contesting in Bijbehara, is in a three-way contest with Bashir Ahmad Veeri of the NC and Sofi Mohammad Yousuf of the BJP.