State Vote
Polling begins for 26 Assembly seats in second phase of J&K polls
This story was originally published at 09:06 IST on 25 September 2024
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NEW DELHI – Polling in the second phase of the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly elections started at 0700 IST today in 26 constituencies – 11 in Jammu and 15 in Kashmir – across six districts. A total of 239 candidates are in the fray in this phase, with about 2.5 mln people eligible to cast their votes, according to the Election Commission.
The day-long polling is scheduled to end at 1800 IST.
Voting in the second phase will decide the fates of several heavyweights across party lines. Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Vice-President Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister of the erstwhile state, is in the fray in the Ganderbal and Budgam constituencies. Both seats have been bastions of the party. In Budgam, which has been a party stronghold since 1977, Abdullah is facing seven others, including the Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party's Aga Syed Muntazir Mehdi.
In Ganderbal, Abdullah faces over a dozen candidates, including jailed cleric Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, popularly known as Sarjan Barkati. Barkati was a popular face during the protest rallies after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016.
Local Bharatiya Janata Party unit head Ravinder Raina is in the fray from Nowshera. He had registered a historic win in the constituency in 2014 and is seeking re-election.
Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari is contesting the Channapora seat in Srinagar, and Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee chief Tariq Hamid Karra is in the fray from Central Shalteng. Karra takes on the PDP's Abdul Qayum Bhat, the Awami National Conference's Riyaz Ahmad Mir, and Apni Party's Zaffer Habib Dar.
This is the first election in the Union territory after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
The first phase of elections, held on Sep 18, recorded a voter turnout of over 61%. The third and final phase of polling in the Union territory will be held on Oct 1, with the results to be declared on Oct 8. End
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Reported by Kuldeep Singh
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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