Polling begins in Chenab valley for phase 1 of assembly elections in J&K

Jammu, Sep 18: Voting commenced Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir's Chenab valley, having over 7.14 lakh eligible voters, to decide the fate of 64 candidates in the first phase of the assembly elections being held after a decade.

Polling started at 7 am at all 1,328 polling stations set up across eight assembly seats of Chenab valley districts of Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban amid heavy security, as the region has witnessed a spurt in terror activities over the past three months, leaving six army personnel and four terrorists dead.

Besides Chenab valley, the first phase of assembly elections also covered four districts of south Kashmir's Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam, and Shopian, which have 16 assembly constituencies.

Meanwhile, 24 polling stations -- 19 in Jammu, one in Udhampur, and four in Delhi -- have been set up to facilitate more than 35,000 Kashmiri Pandits to exercise their franchise in the first phase.

Members of the displaced community are registered as voters in 16 constituencies of south Kashmir.

The voting is scheduled to end at 6 pm, the election officials said, adding separate polling stations managed by women, specially-abled persons and youth, green polling stations to spread messages about environmental concerns, and other unique polling stations have been set up in the three districts.

This is the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories -- Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. The last assembly election was held in 2014.

The second phase covering 26 seats is slated for September 25, the third and final phase in 40 segments on October 1 followed by counting of votes on October 8.

Prominent leaders among those trying their luck are former ministers Sajjad Kitchloo (NC), Khalid Najid Suharwardy (NC), Vikar Rasool Wani (Congress), Abdul Majid Wani (DPAP), Sunil Sharma (BJP), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda west), and Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, a three-time MLA who is fighting as an Independent after he was denied ticket by DPAP which he had joined after quitting Congress in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad two years ago.

Former MLA Daleep Singh Parihar (BJP), former MLCs Firdous Tak and Imtiyaz Shan (PDP), NC's Pooja Thakur, the sitting chairperson of district development council Kishtwar, BJP's young face Shagun Parihar, whose father Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were killed by terrorists in November 2018, and Mehraj din Malik of AAP, are among other prominent faces in the fray.

Ten candidates are in fray from Doda district, 51 from Bhadarwah Assembly Constituency, nine from 52-Doda, and eight from 53-Doda West.

In Kishtwar district, nine candidates are contesting from 48-Inderwal, seven candidates from 49-Kishtwar, while six from 50-Padder-Nagseni. In Ramban district, eight candidates are contesting from 54-Ramban and seven from 55-Banihal.

Doda has a total of 3,10,613 registered voters, comprising 1,60,057 male, 1,50,521 female, and 8 transgender persons, with 534 polling stations, officials said.

A total of 1,79,374 electors, composed of 91,935 male and 87,435 female, and 4 transgender voters are poised to exercise their right at 429 polling stations in Kishtwar district, while the Ramban district has 2,24,214 registered voters -- 1,16,019 male, 1,08,193 female, and one transgender person. A total of 365 polling stations are spread across the district.