Polling is being held in three districts of Jammu and four districts of Kashmir valley.
Jammu And Kashmir Assembly Elections Live Updates:
Voting in the first phase of the three-phase Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir has begun across 24 constituencies in seven districts today. The Union Territory is voting for the first time in an Assembly election in 10 years. This is the also first Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state special status, in 2019.
It is also the first time that Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing an Assembly election as a Union Territory. When Article 370 was abrogated, the state was divided into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Over 23 lakh voters are eligible to vote for 219 candidates, including 90 independents, in eight Assembly segments in three districts of the Jammu region and 16 in four districts of Kashmir Valley. The polling is scheduled to end at 6 pm.
Polling in the remaining 66 Assembly seats will be held in the other two phases on September 25 and October 1, while the counting of the votes will take place on October 8.
Here are live updates on Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections:
In Jammu, trying their luck are former ministers Sajjad Kitchloo (National Conference), Khalid Najib Suharwardy (National Conference) 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 MLC 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 first phase of J&K Assembly polls.
Key candidates in Kashmir whose fate will be decided today include CPI (M)’s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, National Conference’s Sakina Itoo, and PDP’s Sartaj Madni and Abdul Rehman Veeri.
PDP’s Iltija Mufti, running from Srigufwara-Bijbehara, and the party’s youth leader Waheed Para, from Pulwama, are also the contenders to watch for in the first phase.
The constituencies where the polling is underway include Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, Pahalgam, Inderwal, Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Bhadarwah, Doda, Doda West, Ramban and Banihal.
Polling underway for 24 Assembly constituencies across Jammu & Kashmir (16 in Kashmir and 8 in Jammu).
Visuals from a polling centre in Kishtwar pic.twitter.com/HUomrVUIun
– ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2024
According to the Election Commission (EC), a total of 23,27,580 electors are eligible to vote in phase 1 of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections. Among them are 11,76,462 male, 11,51,058 female and 60 third-gender electors.
More than 1.23 lakh youth between the age 18 to 19 years, along with 28,309 Person with Disabilities (PwDs) and 15,774 elderly voters above the age of 85 are eligible to exercise their franchise in phase one.
Voting in the first phase of the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir has begun. It will continue till 6 pm.
This is the first time that Jammu and Kashmir will vote in an assembly election as a Union Territory. When Article 370 was abrogated on August 2019, the state was divided into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
This is the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state special status, in 2019.
