People of Jammu and Kashmir will vote for 40 seats in the third and final phase of assembly elections on Tuesday.
This polling will be held in 40 assembly constituencies—16 in Kashmir and 24 in Jammu—spread in the seven districts of Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Udhampur, Kathua, Samba, and Jammu.
J&K is voting for the first time in an Assembly election in a decade. The last assembly polls were held in 2014.
This is also the first Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state special status, in 2019.
In the first phase of polls, about 61 percent of the electorate in Jammu and Kashmir turned out to vote. In the second phase held last week, total voter turnout was 57.3 percent.
According to the latest electoral rolls, 39,18,220 voters are eligible to cast their ballots in this phase, comprising 20,09,033 male voters, 19,09,130 female voters and 57 third-gender voters.
Underlining the significance of the role to be played by youth of Jammu and Kashmir in strengthening the democracy, as many as 1.94 lakh youths voters aged 18 to 19 are eligible to vote in 3rd phase of Assembly Election.
This phase will also see participation from 35,860 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and 32,953 voters above the age of 85.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has established 5,060 polling stations with 100% webcasting across 40 Assembly Constituencies. These include 974 Urban Polling Stations and 4,086 Rural Polling Stations.
To enhance voter participation, 240 special polling stations have been established across 7 districts in this phase, including 50 polling stations managed by women, known as Pink polling stations, 43 polling stations manned by specially abled persons and 40 polling stations manned by youth. Also, there will be 45 green polling stations in order to spread message about environmental concern, 29 polling stations are established near the LOC/ IB for residents residing there and 33 Unique Polling stations.
Baramulla Assembly Segment of North Kashmir leads with the highest 25 candidates in poll fray, while as Akhnoor assembly constituency of Jammu district will witness contest among three candidates only during this phase.
In Kashmir, 16 Assembly Constituencies comprising Karnah, Trehgam, Kupwara, Lolab, Handwara, Langate, Sopore, Rafiabad, Uri, Baramulla, Gulmarg, Wagoora-Kreeri, Pattan, Sonawari, Bandipora and Gurez (ST), and in Jammu Division 24 Assembly Constituencies comprising Udhampur West, Udhampur East, Chenani, Ramnagar (SC), Bani, Billawar, Basohli, Jasrota, Kathua (SC), Hiranagar, Ramgarh (SC), Samba, Vijaypur, Bishnah (SC), Suchetgarh (SC), R.S.Pura–Jammu South, Bahu, Jammu East, Nagrota, Jammu West, Jammu North, Marh (SC), Akhnoor (SC) and Chhamb will go to the polls in this phase.
A total of 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. Special Polling Station-wise extract voter list will be with BLOs.
A team of four officials, including Presiding Officer will be stationed in every polling station. In total, more than 20,000 Polling staff will be deployed on duty for 3rd phase of assembly election.
In this phase, 109 candidates are in fray in Jammu district, followed by 101 in Baramulla district, 59 in Kupwara district, 42 in Bandipora district, 37 in Udhampur district, 35 in Kathua district, while 32 candidates are contesting in Samba district.
In Udhampur district, 12 candidates are in fray in 59-Udhampur West AC; 9 in 60-Udhampur East AC; 9 in 61-Chenani AC; while 7 candidates are contesting in 62-Ramnagar (SC) AC.
In Kathua district, 8 candidates are in fray in 63-Bani AC; 4 in 64-Billawar AC; 4 in 65-Basohli AC; 8 in 66-Jasrota AC; 5 in 67-Kathua (SC) AC; while 6 candidates are contesting in 68-Hiranagar AC.
In Samba district, 7 candidates are in fray in 69-Ramgarh (SC) AC; 14 in 70-Samba AC; while 11 candidates are contesting in 71-Vijaypur AC.
In Jammu district, 9 candidates are in fray in 72-Bishnah (SC) AC; 11 in 73-Suchetgarh (SC) AC; 14 in 74-R.S. Pura–Jammu South AC; 12 in 75-Bahu AC; 9 in 76-Jammu East AC; 8 in 77-Nagrota AC; 12 in 78-Jammu West AC; 17 in 79-Jammu North AC; 6 in 80-Marh (SC) AC; 3 in 81-Akhnoor (SC) AC; while 8 candidates are contesting in 82-Chhamb AC.
Similarly, in Kashmir Division’s Kupwara district, 8 candidates are in fray in 1-Karnah AC; 10 in 2-Trehgam AC; 8 in 3-Kupwara AC; 11 in 4-Lolab AC; 7 in 5-Handwara AC; while 15 candidates are contesting in 6-Langate AC.
In Baramulla district, 20 candidates are in fray in 7-Sopore AC; 12 in 8-Rafiabad AC; 6 in 9-Uri AC; 25 in 10-Baramulla AC; 13 in 11-Gulmarg AC; 12 in 12-Wagoora- Kreeri AC; while 13 candidates are contesting in 13-Pattan AC.
In Bandipora district, 18 candidates are in fray in 14-Sonawari AC; 19 in 15-Bandipora AC; while 5 candidates are contesting in 16-Gurez (ST) AC.
The Kupwara district has recorded a total of 5,42,535 registered voters, including 2,71,601 males, 2,70,924 females, and 10 transgender across six Assembly constituencies. A total of 622 polling stations are spread across these constituencies of the district, ensuring that every registered voter has the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.
The Baramulla district comprises of seven Assembly Constituencies with 7,24,335 electorates which includes 3,65,074 males, 3,59,249 females, and 12 transgender voters. A total of 908 polling stations are spread across the district.
The Bandipora District has registered a total of 2,59,893 voters across its three Assembly constituencies, includes 1,32,679 male voters, 1,27,208 female voters, and 6 transgender voters. A comprehensive network of 312 polling stations has been established across the district.
Udhampur District is divided into four Assembly constituencies, with a total of 4,22,802 registered voters, including 2,21,457 male and 2,01,345 female voters. To facilitate the voting process, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has established 654 polling stations across the district.
The Kathua district has registered a total of 5,06,679 voters, including 2,65,420 male, 2,41,256 female, and 03 transgender voters across its six assembly constituencies. A comprehensive network of 704 polling stations has been established by the ECI for free, fair and transparent elections.
The Samba district comprises three Assembly constituencies, with 2,60,999 registered voters, including 1,33,736 male, 1,27,261 female and 02 transgender voters. ECI has established 366 polling stations throughout the district.
The Jammu district, with eleven Assembly Segments, has 12,009,77 electors, including 6,19,066 male, 5,81,887 female, and 24 transgender voters. To facilitate the voting process, t ECI has established 1494 polling stations across the District.
The voting will take place from 7.00 am to 6.00 pm.
The key candidates include former deputy chief minister and Congress leader Tara Chand, who is contesting from the Chhamb Assembly constituency; former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig, who is fighting as an independent candidate from Baramulla; Sajad Lone of the Peoples Conference; Bashaarat Bukhari of the Peoples Democratic Party; Choudhary Ramazan of the National Conference; Sham Lal Sharma and Devender Singh Rana of the Bhartiya Janta Party; and Choudary Lal Singh of Congress, Usman Majeed, among others.
In Kashmir, all eyes will be on the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), headed by Member Parliament Abdul Rashid Sheikh alias Engineer Rashid, who was released from Tihar jail on interim bail and rigorously campaigned for the assembly polls.