Srinagar: On Wednesday when voting for the second phase of the Assembly elections- being held after a decade – commences amid high security, all eyes will be on Srinagar – once a bastion of election boycott.
Of the 90 assembly seats, the polling will be held on Wednesday in 26 Assembly Constituencies across six districts of Jammu & Kashmir. In Jammu region, polling will take place in 11 constituencies and in Kashmir it will be held in 15 seats.
A total of 27.78 lakh voters are eligible to vote to decide the electoral fate of 239 candidates in this phase of the elections. The authorities have set up 3,502 Polling Stations with webcasting for a fair, transparent voting process and elaborate security arrangements have been made, officials said.
A voter turnout of more than 61 per cent was recorded in the first phase of Assembly polls covering 24 constituencies on September 18.
Voting on Wednesday will decide the fate of former chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah who is contesting from two constituencies of Budgam and Ganderbal. In Budgam, Omar is in contest against Peoples Democratic Party’s Agha Syed Muntazir, cousin of NC leader and Member Parliament Rullah Mehdi.
The fate of J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina, who is contesting from Nowshera seat, will also be decided in this phase. The BJP chief is facing a tough challenge from former MLC Surinder Choudhary who is fighting the elections on an NC ticket.
The other prominent candidates whose fate will be decided in the second phase include Congress J&K president Tariq Karra from Central-Shalteng; Apni Party chief Altaf Bukhari from Channapora, jailed cleric and separatist leader Sarjan Ahmad Wagay from Ganderbal and Beerwa, NC leaders Ali Mohammad Sagar from Khaniyar, Rahim Rather from Chrar-i-Sharief, BJP leaders Aijaz Hussain from Lal Chowk, Choudhary Zulfikar from Budhal and Syed Mushtaq Bukhari from Surankote.
The constituencies that will go to polls on Wednesday 25 include Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Channapora, Zadibal, Eidgah, and Central Shalteng in the Srinagar district. Five constituencies including Beerwah, Khansahib, Chrar-i-Sharief and Chadoora in Budgam district in central Kashmir. In Ganderbal district two constituencies Ganderbal and Kangan are going to polls.
The constituencies in Jammu’s Reasi district include Gulabgarh (ST) and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi. Kalakote-Sunderbani, Nowshera, Rajouri, Thanamandi and Budhal are in Rajouri district, while the remaining three —Poonch-Haveli, Mendhar, and Surankote — are in Poonch district.
After the impressive turnout of over 61 per cent in the first phase, the focus now will be on Srinagar, as most of the constituencies in the district have been a bastion of election boycott.
This time, however, no boycott call has been given by any separatist group.
In the 2014 Assembly elections, PDP had made inroads into Srinagar a bastion of NC by winning five of the eight seats. NC had won only three seats. However, this time the NC is likely to emerge stronger in the polls in Srinagar.
The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election is being held in three phases, with the third voting phase scheduled on October 1. The votes will be counted on October 8.
