Jammu Kashmir Voting: Voting for the first phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024 is going to start shortly. Voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm on a total of 24 seats in the first phase. There are a total of 90 seats in Jammu and Kashmir. Of these, 47 are in the valley and 43 in Jammu division. Of these, nine seats are reserved for ST and seven for SC. Voting will be held in three phases. Voting will be held for the second phase on September 25 and for the third and final phase on October 1. The election results will be declared on October 8.
According to the information given by the Election Commission, there are 87.09 lakh voters in 90 constituencies in the Union Territory. Of these, 42.6 lakh are women. The number of young voters voting for the first time here is 3.71 lakh, while the age of total 20.7 lakh voters is between 20 to 29 years.
hot seat equation
- Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, is in a triangular contest from Bijbehara with Bashir Ahmed Veeri of the National Conference and Sofi Mohammad Yusuf of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). When Iltija was fielded in the Bijbehara constituency, the PDP had to face rebellion. PDP vice-president Abdul Rehman Bhat has been contesting elections from this area. Abdul Rehman had won the seat four times since the 1998 assembly by-elections against the National Conference. BJP has fielded former MLC Sofi Yusuf from here. It is believed that there will be a bilateral contest between Iltija and Bashir Veeri in this constituency. Iltija is relying on the cadre vote of the PDP. However, the alliance of Jamaat and AIP can also have an impact.
- PDP’s Waheed Para is contesting from the Pulwama seat. He is an accused in a terrorism case. He is facing a tough challenge from former party colleague and National Conference candidate Mohammad Khalil Band. With former member of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami Talat Majeed Ali also entering the fray, the contest on this seat has become triangular. 73-year-old Mohammad Khalil Band is a three-time MLA. He won the 2002, 2008 and 2014 assembly elections consecutively on a PDP ticket. However, when the PDP started splitting after the abrogation of Article 370, Band joined the National Conference. 36-year-old Para campaigned for Band as a youth leader of the PDP from Pulwama in the 2008 and 2014 elections. Now both are in a tough electoral contest against each other.
- Kulgam is considered a stronghold of the left in Jammu and Kashmir. Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) is contesting from the Kulgam seat for the fifth consecutive time. Mohammad Yusuf Rather, the only communist leader of the Kashmir Valley in Kulgam assembly constituency, is popular by the name of his native village Tarigami. He is facing the banned Jamaat in this area for the first time. The Jamaat is supporting former JEI member Sayyar Ahmed Reshi here. At the same time, All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Ghulam Ahmed Mir is contesting from Duru for the third time and Sakina Itoo of the National Conference (NC) is contesting from Damhal Hajipora.
- In Tral assembly constituency, Congress has fielded Surendra Singh and PDP has fielded Rafiq Ahmed Nayak. Two other Sikh candidates Pushwinder Singh and Harbakhsh Singh Sasan are also contesting as independent candidates. Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) has also fielded a Sikh candidate Dr. Harbakhsh Singh, popularly known as Shanti.
- Apart from these seats, eyes will also be on Banihal and Zainapora assembly constituencies. There is a direct contest between NC and Congress in Banihal assembly constituency. Earlier, Sarjan Barkatiye had filed nomination from Zainipora, but his nomination was rejected. That is why Jamaat is now supporting former PDP MLA Aijaz Ahmed Mir. Ahmed Mir is contesting as an independent from Zainapora seat after Mehbooba Mufti did not give him ticket.
The group has become active
Former general secretary of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, Ghulam Qadir Lone, said the organisation had made it clear in its meetings with government representatives that the ban on the organisation was illegal and urged for a reconsideration. Lone underlined that the organisation has formed a nine-member committee to hold talks with the Centre on the ban. He said the Jamaat had decided to participate in the parliamentary elections and it was a move that contributed to an increase in voter turnout in Kashmir. The decision was welcomed in the political corridors of Jammu and Kashmir. However, they are disappointed that the two Lok Sabha members from Kashmir did not raise the issue of the ban in Parliament, making us feel that we have been betrayed,
Displaced Kashmiri Pandits will also vote
More than 35,000 displaced Kashmiri Pandits living across the country are eligible to vote at 24 polling stations in the first phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. Displaced Kashmiri Pandits will be able to exercise their franchise in 16 assembly constituencies of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam districts of South Kashmir. In the first phase of elections, 35,500 migrant Kashmiri voters are eligible to vote at 24 special polling stations set up in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.
There is heat again on 370
National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that the decision to repeal Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was taken by Parliament, not God. Omar stressed that this decision can be reversed. Omar was reacting to the remarks made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at an election rally held in Jammu on Monday. Shah had said that Article 370 has been buried in the pages of history and it will never become a part of the Indian Constitution again. The NC vice-president said, “Nothing is impossible.”
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