On the last day of the withdrawal of nomination papers for the second phase of the Assembly elections in 26 Assembly constituencies, 27 candidates withdrew their candidature on Monday, leaving 239 candidates in the poll fray.
The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, J&K UT said out of the total 266 valid nominations, 27 candidates withdrew their nominations by the last date of withdrawal i.e. Monday (September 9).
Now 239 validly nominated candidates now remain in fray for 26 Assembly constituencies, where polling will be held in the second phase of the J&K Assembly elections on September 25.
The highest 9 candidates withdrew their nomination in Budgam district, followed by 6 in Srinagar district, 5 each in Rajouri and Poonch districts, 2 in Reasi district, while no candidate withdrew their nomination in Ganderbal district.
With this, 93 candidates remain in the final electoral fray in Srinagar district, followed by 46 in Budgam district, 34 in Rajouri district, 25 in Poonch district, 21 in Ganderbal district, while 20 candidates remain in the final fray in Reasi district.
In Reasi district, 6 candidates remain in the final electoral fray for election in 56-Gulabgarh (ST) AC; 7 candidates in 57-Reasi AC; while 7 candidates remain in the fray in 58-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi AC.
In Rajouri district, 11 candidates remain in the final electoral fray for election in 83-Kalakote – Sunderbani AC; 5 candidates in 84-Nowshera AC; 8 candidates in 85-Rajouri (ST) AC; 4 candidates in 86-Budhal (ST) AC; while 6 candidates remain in the fray in 87-Thannamandi (ST) AC.
In Poonch district, 8 candidates remain in the final electoral fray for election in 88-Surankote (ST) AC; 8 candidates in 89-Poonch Haveli AC; while 9 candidates remain in the fray in 90-Mendhar (ST) AC.
Similarly, in Ganderbal district, 6 candidates remain in the final electoral fray for election in 17- Kangan (ST) AC and 15 candidates in 18- Ganderbal AC.
In Srinagar district, 13 candidates remain in the final electoral fray for election in 19-Hazratbal AC; 10 candidates in 20-Khanyar AC; 16 candidates in 21-Habbakadal AC; 10 candidates in 22-Lal Chowk AC; 8 candidates in 23-Channapora AC; 10 candidates in 24-Zadibal AC; 13 candidates in 25-Eidgah AC; while 13 candidates remain in the fray in 26-Central Shalteng AC.
Finally, in Budgam district, 8 candidates remain in the final electoral fray for election in 27-Budgam AC; 12 candidates in 28-Beerwah AC; 10 candidates in 29-Khansahib AC; 10 candidates in 30-Chrar-I-Sharief AC; while 6 candidates remain in the fray in 31-Chadoora AC.
It is worth mentioning here that a total of 309 candidates had filed their nomination papers before the respective Returning Officers in 26 Assembly Constituencies till the last date of filing the Nominations on 5 September, 2024.
Out of these, the nomination papers of 266 candidates were found valid during Scrutiny held on 6 September, 2024. And now with the withdrawal of 27 candidates, 239 candidates now remain in the final electoral fray.