Anantnag (Jammu and Kashmir): The election campaign for the first phase assembly elections to be held in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18 ended on Monday evening.
In the first phase, over 23.27 lakh voters will to cast their ballots. This phase will determine the fate of 219 candidates across 24 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to J&K's Information Department, the constituencies include 16 in the Kashmir Division: Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, and Pahalgam. In the Jammu Division, the elections will cover eight constituencies: Inderwal, Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Bhadarwah, Doda, Doda West, Ramban, and Banihal.
“There are 23,27,580 registered voters for this phase, consisting of 11,76,462 males, 11,51,058 females, and 60 third-gender voters. Among these voters, 5.66 lakh are young people aged 18 to 29, including 1,23,960 first-time voters aged 18 to 19. Of the first-time voters, 10,261 are male and 9,329 are female. Additionally, 28,309 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and 15,774 voters above the age of 85 will also be participating in the elections,” the department said in a statement today.
It further noted, “In terms of candidates, Pampore Assembly Constituency leads with 14 candidates, while Srigufwara-Bijbehara Assembly Constituency has a tight race with only three candidates. In the districts, Kishtwar has nine candidates contesting in Inderwal, seven in Kishtwar, and six in Padder-Nagseni. Doda has ten candidates in Bhadarwah, nine in Doda, and eight in Doda West. Ramban has eight candidates in Ramban and seven in Banihal. Pulwama features 14 candidates in Pampore, nine in Tral, 12 in Pulwama, and ten in Rajpora. Shopian has ten candidates in Zainapora and eleven in Shopian. Kulgam has six candidates in DH Pora, ten in Kulgam, and nine in Devsar. Anantnag has ten candidates in Dooru, ten in Kokernag (ST), nine in Anantnag West, thirteen in Anantnag, three in Srigufwara-Bijbehara, thirteen in Shangus-Anantnag East, and six in Pahalgam.”
Meanwhile, according to the statement, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has established a total of 3,276 polling stations across these 24 Assembly Constituencies. “In Doda, 534 polling stations will cater to 3,10,613 voters. Anantnag will have 844 polling stations for 6,67,843 voters. Ramban is set to have 365 polling stations for 2,24,214 voters. Shopian will have 251 polling stations serving 2,09,062 voters. Pulwama will have 481 polling stations for 4,07,637 voters. Kulgam will have 372 polling stations for 3,28,782 voters. Kishtwar will have 429 polling stations for 1,79,374 voters.”
Four districts in Kashmir:
In Kashmir, about 104 nominated candidates are in the fray for the 16 assembly constituencies where polling will be held on September 18 in the first phase. The total number of voters in the four districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama and Shopian of South Kashmir is 1,613,197, including 808,371 male voters and 804,781 female voters.
Over 64 candidates are in the fray in Anantnag district, 45 in Pulwama district, 25 in Kulgam district and 21 candidates in Shopian district.
About 14 candidates are in the fray in Pampore constituency of Pulwama district, 9 candidates in Tral seat, 12 candidates in Pulwama seat and 10 candidates in Rajpura seat. In these seats, the total number of voters is 407637, including 202475 male and 205141 female voters, while 481 polling centers have been set up in the district.
In Shopian district, 10 candidates are in the fray in Zainapora constituency and 11 candidates are contesting for Shopian seat. The total number of voters in Shopian district is 2,09,039 out of which 1,04,882 are male voters while 1,04,150 are female voters. About 151 polling stations have been set up across Shopian district.
In Kulgam district, 6 candidates are in the fray for elections in Damhal Hanjipura Assembly Constituency. There is competition between 10 candidates for 39 Kulgam seat, and 9 candidates in Devsar constituency. The total number of voters in Kulgam district is 3,28,740 in which 1,64,829 male and 1,63,898 female voters are registered.
In Anantnag district, 10 candidates are in the fray for Dooru seat, about 10 candidates in Kokarnag (ST) seat, 9 candidates in Anantnag West seat and 13 candidates in 44-Anantnag seat, 3 candidates in Srigfwara Bijbehara seat, 13 candidates in Shangs Anantnag East seat and 6 candidates in 47-Pahalgam seat. Total number of voters in Anantnag district is 6,67,781. About 336185 male and 331592 female voters have their right to vote.
The main contest in all these seats will mostly be between National Conference-Congress alliance and Peoples Democratic Party. However, at a couple of places, Apni Party will also give a tough fight. In Pahalgam there is tri-angular contest among Apni Party candidate Rafi Ahmad Mir, candidate of NC Altaf Ahmad Kaloo and PDP candidate Dr Syed Shabir Siddique.
All the preparations for the elections have been completed in all the districts of South Kashmir, where the tight security arrangements have been made and additional security personnel have been deployed around the polling centers to ensure conduct of election process peacefully.
