Jammu & Kashmir Holds Elections After A Decade; Phase 1 Voting Underway

SRINAGAR: Polling for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections is underway. The voting process commenced at 7 AM today and is scheduled to conclude by 6 PM, the Election Commission of India informed.

Security measures have been tightened across the Union Territory so as to ensure smooth conduct of the elections and prevent any untoward incident from taking place.

24 Assembly constituencies - 16 in the Kashmir valley and 8 in the Jammu region - will exercise their democratic right in the first phase. As many as 219 candidates will battle it out in the first phase.

A total of 486 candidates had initially submitted their nominations for 40 Assembly constituencies but the number got reduced to 415 candidates who remain in the fray for the third and final phase after scrutiny and withdrawals.

Overall, 90 assembly constituencies of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir will be up for grabs as a total of 873 candidates will be vying for the seats.

26 seats will head to the polling booths during the second phase of the elections scheduled for September 25. The remaining 40 seats will be covered during the third and final phase of the elections that will conclude on October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.

These elections hold profound significance as it happens to be the first Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 back in August 2019, which scrapped the special status of the region.

The Congress Party and the National Conference have stitched an alliance for the assembly polls while the Mehbooba Mufti-led People's Democratic Party (PDP), the BJP and the People's Conference are contesting separately.

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