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PremiumJammu & Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024 Highlights: Voting is underway in 26 seats across six districts of Jammu and Kashmir in the second phase of assembly elections today, September 25. The second phase covers 15 seats in Kashmir Valley and 11 seats in the Jammu division of the Union Territory (UT).
Voting commenced from 7 am and will continued till 6 pm. Second phase of J-K assembly polls records turnout of 56.79 per cent, said CEO PK Pole.
The 26 seats have recorded a voter turnout of 54 per cent per cent in first 8 hours until 5 pm, the Election Commission said. Among districts, Reasi in Jammu recorded 71.81 per cent voting while Poonch has recorded 71.59 per cent voting until 3 pm. At 27.31 per cent voting till 5 pm, Srinagar has recorded the lowest turnout among districts so far, the poll panel said.
Among 26 assembly seats voting today, Surankote, Poonch Haveli and Reasi – all in Jammu – have recorded above 50 per cent turnout until 1 pm, the poll panel said. Habbakadal in Srinagar has recorded just 11.1 per cent turnout so far. Khanyar seat which covers the downtown area of old Srinagar city has also recorded around 16.07 per cent voter turnout till 1 pm, according to voter turnout mobile app of Election Commission of India.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to play role in strengthening democracy by exercising their franchise. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also appealed people to vote today to strengthen democracy and to free Jammu and Kashmir from terrorism, nepotism and corruption.
As many as 2.5 million voters are eligible to exercise their franchise across six districts today, the Election Commission of India said. Of the six districts three are in Kashmir Valley and three in Jammu division voting in the second phase.
The first phase of J-K elections held on September 18 saw 61 per cent voter turnout. The final phase of polling will be held on October 1. The votes will be counted on October 8.
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.
Key Seats
The three districts in Kashmir voting today are Ganderbal, Srinagar, and Budgam and those in Jammu include Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch – the districts that witnessed terror attacks in recent past.
The 15 seats in Kashmir division voting today 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.
Omar Abdullah, Tariq Karra and Ravinder Raina in the fray
As many as 239 candidates are in the fray for 26 seats today. Among the key candidates in the fray 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) and Apni party president Altaf Bukhari (Channapora) are the other key candidates.
As many as 25.78 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballot in today's phase. this includes 13.12 men and 12.65 lakh women voters. As many as 1.20 lakh voters aged 18 to 19 are eligible to vote in today's phase of voting.
Polling will be held on 3,502 polling stations with 100 per cent webcasting across 26 assembly seats, the Election Commission said.
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.
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