Second phase voting begins in Jammu and Kashmir

Srinagar: Voting for the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on a peaceful note on early Wednesday at 7 am.

Voters in central Kashmir queued early Wednesday morning outside several polling stations to cast their vote in the second phase of the assembly election.

These are the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir after a decade during which the special status of erstwhile state was scrapped by the Narendra Modi government through the scrapping of Article 370 and 35A in August 2019.

Officials said that polling began at 7 a.m. across all 26 assembly constituencies spread over six districts of Jammu and Kashmir. In Jammu, voting is underway in 11 constituencies, while in Kashmir, voters are casting their ballots in 15 constituencies.

The constituencies where voting is ongoing include Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Channapora, Zadibal, Eidgah, Central Shalteng, Beerwah, Khansahib, Chrar-i-Sharief, Chadoora, Ganderbal, and Kangan in Kashmir; and Gulabgarh (ST), Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Kalakote-Sunderbani, Nowshera, Rajouri, Thanamandi, Budhal, Poonch-Haveli, Mendhar, and Surankote in Jammu.

In Kashmir, voting is taking place in three districts: Srinagar, Budgam, and Ganderbal. While Srinagar has historically been a stronghold for election boycotts, the other districts have traditionally seen strong voter turnout. With no boycott calls or threats from militants this time, it is expected that voter participation in Srinagar will increase significantly.

District Election Officer (DEO), Srinagar, Bilal M Bhat, on Tuesday urged young, eligible voters to come out and cast their votes.

"I encourage all voters, especially the newly eligible young voters, to show the same enthusiasm they displayed during their enrolment by coming out to vote for their candidate," Bhat said.

Officials said that men and women were seen in queues in Budgam and Ganderbal districts early in the morning, patiently waiting for their turn to cast their vote. Voting is also slowly gaining momentum in Srinagar's eight assembly constituencies.

"Voting is proceeding peacefully," an official said, adding that after the impressive 61 percent turnout in the first phase in south Kashmir, they are anticipating a good turnout on Wednesday as well.

In this second phase of polling, a total of 27.78 lakh voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates. Authorities have set up 3,502 polling stations with webcasting to ensure a fair and transparent voting process.

Today’s polling will decide the fate of former chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah, who is contesting from the two constituencies of Budgam and Ganderbal. Omar is facing a tough contest. In Budgam, Omar is in contest against the Peoples Democratic Party’s Agha Syed Muntazir, cousin of NC leader and Member Parliament Rullah Mehdi.

The fate of BJP's J&K chief, Ravinder Raina, will also be decided today. Raina, who is contesting from the Nowshera seat, faces a tough challenge from former MLC Surinder Choudhary, who is running on an NC ticket with Congress backing.

Other prominent candidates include J&K Congress President Tariq Karra from Central Shalteng, Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari from Channapora, jailed cleric and separatist leader Sarjan Ahmad Wagay from Ganderbal and Beerwah, NC leaders Ali Mohammad Sagar from Khanyar and Rahim Rather from Chrar-i-Sharief, and BJP leaders Aijaz Hussain from Lal Chowk, Choudhary Zulfikar from Budhal, and Syed Mushtaq Bukhari from Surankote.

The last phase of polls will be held on October 1, and the results will be announced on October 8.