Campaigning for phase-I ends

Anantnag, Sep 16: The candidates in south Kashmir ended their canvassing on Monday, the last day of campaigning for phase-I J&K Assembly polls.

South Kashmir, which comprises 16 seats is set to go to polls on September 18 in the first leg of polling along with eight seats in the Jammu division.

A total of 219 candidates are in the fray for all the 24 assembly segments. In all four districts of south Kashmir--Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam- the contestants held a flurry of rallies, road shows, and public meetings to make a list ditch effort to woo voters.

Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing the assembly elections for the first time in a decade with visible enthusiasm among political parties and their supporters.

The campaigning, which started soon after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the polls on August 16, gained momentum as the poll dates drew near. Over the last few weeks, the streets across south Kashmir bustled with political rallies and road shows.

Besides key political parties like NC, PDP, Congress, BJP, and CPI (M), several independent candidates backed by Jamaat-e-Islami and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) are participating in the elections. The decision of Jamaat and AIP to fight together has added a new dimension to the polls, making the entire poll process interesting.

Since Monday morning, the candidates and their supporters in different parts of south Kashmir scrambled to complete their poll-related activities.

Ram Madhav, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary, addressed rallies in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, while former chief minister Omar Abdullah campaigned for the NC candidate in Pulwama.

Similarly, CPI (M) leader Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami addressed a series of rallies in the neighbouring Kulgam district.

In Anantnag, both the PDP and the Congress held rallies to woo voters.

Iltija Mufti and G A Mir accompanied by Congress youth leader Kanaya Kumar addressed the leaders.