In Jammu and Kashmir, the campaigning for the third and final phase of assembly elections ended this evening. More than 39.18 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their electoral franchise during the 3rd and last phase of the Assembly Election to be held on 1st October across 40 Assembly Constituencies in 7 districts of the Union Territory. Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place for smooth, peaceful, and incident-free polling. The voting will take place from 7 AM to 6 PM.
The political fate of 415 candidates of various political parties and independents who are in the final electoral fray would be decided by more than 39.18 lakh eligible electors in the third and last phase of the assembly elections on October 1. Out of 40 assembly seats, twenty-four seats in Jammu and 16 in North Kashmir are likely to witness an intense face-off between archrival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress in Jammu, while in Kashmir, INDI Alliance NC-Congress candidates will face Jammu Kashmir People Conference and Awami Itihad Party.
Some prominent fights for their political survival in this phase include former deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, who is Congress candidate for Chamb Constituency and facing four corner battle from BJP’s- Rajeev Sharma and two independent Satish Sharma and Narinder Singh Bhau, Congress working president Raman Bhalla from R S Pura Jammu south constituency, Former Minister and BJP Candidate Sham Lal Sharma who is facing Former Minister and National Conference candidate Ajay Sadhotra from Jammu North, Former Minister and Congress candidate from Basholi Choudary Lal Singh who is facing BJP’s Darsahn Singh, Panther Party leader and Former Minister Harsh Dev Singh fighting his own cousin and Panther Party colleague now BJP candidate Balwant Singh Mankotia from Udhampur’s Chenani assembly constituency.
The Democratic Progressive Azad Party of Ghulam Nabi Azad also fielded candidates but is fighting as an independent candidate. The Election Commission of India has set up 5060 polling stations across 7 districts of Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Udhampur, Samba, Kathua, and Jammu for smooth and hassle-free voting by the eligible electors. Four election staff, including the presiding officer, will be stationed in every polling station. In total, more than 20 thousand polling staff have been deployed on duty for the 3rd phase of the election.
A total of 39 lakh 18 thousand 220 voters, including 20 lakh 09 thousand 033 males, 19 lakh 40 thousand 092 females, and 57 third-gender voters, are eligible to exercise their franchise in the third phase of assembly elections. As many as 1.94 lakh youths between the ages of 18 and 19 years, along with 35,860 persons with disabilities (PwDs) and 32,953 elderly voters above the age of 85, are also eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase. 24 special polling stations have been established for migrant voters of Kashmir Division, which includes 19 special polling stations in Jammu, 4 in Delhi, and 1 in Udhampur District.
