18 September,2024 07:19 AM IST | Srinagar | mid-day online correspondent
Representative Image/ PTI
Polling in Jammu and Kashmir began on Wednesday for the first assembly elections since the repeal of Article 370, which granted the area special status. This is the first assembly election in the Union Territory, and the first in ten years, reported PTI,
According to the report, voting began at 7 am in 24 seats in seven districts, amid heavy security measures. On August 5, 2019, the Centre revoked Article 370 and divided the former state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
In this first round of a three-part election, more than 23 lakh voters will decide the destiny of 219 candidates, including 90 independents, across 24 assembly segments - eight in Jammu and sixteen in Kashmir. The electorate consists of 11,76,462 men, 11,51,058 women, and 60 third-gender voters. In addition, 1.23 lakh young people aged 18 to 19, 28,309 people with disabilities, and 15,774 voters over the age of 85 are eligible to vote, the report added.
Around 14,000 poll workers are overseeing the process at 3,276 voting locations, with security provided by the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces, Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police, and local cops.
Reportedly, in Kashmir, prominent candidates include CPI(M)'s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, AICC national secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, National Conference's Sakina Itoo, and PDP's Sartaj Madni. Former ministers Sajjad Kitchloo (NC), Khalid Najib Suharwardy (NC), and Sunil Sharma (BJP) are among the top contenders in Jammu.
Polls will close at 6 pm. The remaining phases will take place on September 25 and October 1, with the vote counting set for October 8.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people in Jammu and Kashmir to vote in large numbers. "As the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections begins, I urge all those in constituencies going to the polls today to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy. I particularly call upon young and first-time voters to exercise their franchise," Modi said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah wrote, "Today, my appeal to the voters going to exercise their franchise in the first phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections is to vote in large numbers to form a government which is committed to education of the youth, employment, empowerment of women and ending separatism and nepotism in the region."
