Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Polls: 26 seats, 239 candidates and 2.5 million voters – stage set for phase 2 voting today

Voting will be held in 26 seats across six districts of Jammu and Kashmir in the second phase of assembly elections today, September 25. This phase covers 15 seats in Kashmir and 11 seats in Jammu division of the Union Territory.

Overall, 2.5 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise across six districts - three in the Kashmir Valley and three in Jammu division in the second phase.

The voting will commence at 7 am and continue till 6 pm.

The first phase of elections held on September 18 saw 61 per cent voter turnout. Jammu and Kashmir is holding its first assembly elections in a decade to elect a government after over six years of Central rule. This is also first assembly election being held after abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile state in August 2019.

The final phase of polling will be held on October 1. The votes will be counted on October 8.

Key Constituencies

The districts voting today are Ganderbal, Srinagar, and Budgam in Central Kashmir and Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu division. The three Jammu districts voting today have seen terror attacks in recent past.

The 15 seats in Kashmir division heading to the hustings are Kangan, Ganderbal, Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Channapora, Zadibal, Eidgah, Central Shalteng, Budgam, Beerwah, Khansahib, Chrar-i-Sharief and Chadoora. The 11 seats of Jammu division voting today include Gulabgarh, Reasi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Kalakote-Sunderbani , Nowshera, Rajouri, Budhal, Thannamandi, Surankote, Poonch Haveli and Mendhar.

The voting today will decide the fate of 239 candidates. Of these, 93 candidates are in the fray in Srinagar district, followed by 46 in Budgam, 34 in Rajouri, 25 in Poonch, 21 in Ganderbal, while 20 candidates are contesting in Reasi.

Key Candidates

Among the key candidates whose fate will be sealed today include National Conference vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah who is contesting from two seats – Ganderbal and Budgam. J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina (Nowshera assembly seat), State Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra (Central-Shalteng), Apni party president Altaf Bukhari (Channapora), former NC ministers Ali Sagar (Khanyar), Rahim Rather (Chrar-i-Sharief),  BJP's Choudhary Zulfikar (Budhal) and Syed Mushtaq Bukhari (Surankote) are other key candidates in the fray today. 

2.5 Million Voters

According to the latest electoral rolls, 25,78,099 voters are eligible to cast their ballot in this phase comprising 13,12,730 men, 12,65,316 women.

As many as 1,20,612 voters aged 18 to 19 are eligible to vote in today's phase of voting.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has established a total of 3,502 polling stations with 100 per cent webcasting across 26 assembly seats. These include 1,056 urban polling stations and 2,446 rural polling stations.

As many as 157 Special polling stations have been established in the second phase including 26 polling booths managed by women as Pink Polling Stations, 26 polling stations manned by specially-abled persons, 26 polling stations manned by youths, 31 border polling stations, 26 green polling stations, and 22 Unique Polling stations.

The three-phase election is expected to witness a multi-cornered fight for the 90 seats across the erstwhile state. While the National Conference and the Congress are fighting the elections in an alliance, the People's Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the two other major players.