Monday night’s conclusion of the second round of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections marked the beginning of the countdown to tomorrow’s pivotal vote on September 25. 26 assembly seats spread across six districts will be covered in this round, and notable individuals like former chief minister Omar Abdullah and Jammu and Kashmir BJP chairman Ravinder Raina are expected to be among the main competitors.
The election battle has been intense, with both ruling and opposition heavyweights leading campaigns. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were at the forefront, addressing rallies in Srinagar and Poonch, respectively. This marks the first assembly election in the region since the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state into union territories in 2019.
The second phase will determine the fate of 239 candidates, including Omar Abdullah. Key constituencies going to the polls in the second phase are Nowshera, Central-Shalteng, Ganderbal, and Budhal.
Other prominent candidates in the fray include Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina (Nowshera assembly seat), Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra (Central-Shalteng), Apni party president Altaf Bukhari (Channapora), former ministers Ali Sagar (Khanyar), Rahim Rather (Chrar-i-Sharief), and Choudhary Zulfikar (Budhal) and Syed Mushtaq Bukhari (Surankote), both of whom are fighting on a BJP ticket.
The daylong polling on Wednesday is scheduled to start at 7 am. The highest 93 candidates are trying their luck from eight seats of Srinagar district, followed by 46 in five seats of Budgam district, 34 in five seats of Rajouri district, 25 in three seats of Poonch district, 21 in two seats of Ganderbal district and 20 in three seats of Reasi district. A total of 3,502 polling stations have been set up in the poll-bound constituencies with adequate security arrangements to ensure peaceful polling.
There are 25.78 lakh eligible voters in the penultimate phase of the three-phase assembly elections. An estimated 61.38 per cent of the electorate cast their ballots in the first phase of polling on September 18, while the third phase of elections covering the remaining 40 assembly segments will go to polls in the final phase on October 1.
In the second phase, Home Minister Amit Shah spoke at rallies in Mendhar, Surankote, Thanamandi, Rajouri, and Nowshera in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, while Prime Minister Modi spoke at two events on September 19, one each in Srinagar and Katra in the Reasi district.
The front-runners for the Congress were Mallikarjun Kharge, the party president, and Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha. Gandhi closed up the intensely competitive Congress campaign by speaking at two rallies: one in the Central-Shalteng district of Srinagar and another in the Surankote seat in Poonch.
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Source: BT
