Jammu and Kashmir all set for third phase of assembly elections : Valley Vision

Tomorrow, 1 October, is the third and final phase of Jammu and Kashmir’s assembly elections, which will end the intense campaigning. This phase culminates everything that will give Jammu and Kashmir its truncated government.

A total of 415 candidates from different political parties and independents will compete for 40 seats in the elections, with around 3.9 million voters eligible to participate. Voting will begin at 7 am across 5,060 polling stations in seven districts of J-K. Of the 40 seats, the race for 24 seats will be closely contested between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress in Jammu. Meanwhile, in north Kashmir, 16 seats will see competition from candidates representing the INDIA bloc, including the National Conference (NC) and Congress, along with members from the Jammu Kashmir People’s Conference (JKPC) and Awami Itihad Party (AIP). 

Polling for the assembly elections will take place at 5,060 stations set up across seven districts: Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Udhampur, Samba, Kathua, and Jammu. Each polling station will be staffed by a team of four, including a Presiding Officer, resulting in more than 20,000 election staff deployed for this phase. The security has been heightened for a smooth process.

The constituencies in Kashmir that will be voting are Uri, Baramulla, Gulmarg, Karnah, Trehgam,  Sopore,  Kupwara, Lolab, Handwara, Langate, Rafiabad, Wagoora-Kreeri, Pattan, Sonawari, Bandipora, and Gurez (ST).

For the Jammu division, the constituencies participating in the elections include Udhampur West, Ramnagar (SC), Bani, Billawar, Basohli, Jasrota, Udhampur East, Chenani, Kathua (SC), Hiranagar, Ramgarh (SC), Samba, and Vijaypur. Additionally, constituencies such as Bishnah (SC), Jammu South, Bahu, Suchetgarh (SC), R S Pura, Jammu East, Nagrota, Jammu West, Jammu North, Marh (SC), Akhnoor (SC), and Chhamb will also be voting.

The main political parties participating in the election include the Congress, NC, BJP, Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Apni Party, CPI(M), JKPC, and the Democratic Progressive Azad Party. Notable candidates in this third phase include former deputy chief ministers Tara Chand from the Congress and Muzaffar Hussain Beig, as well as Sajad Lone from the JKPC and Sheikh Khursheed from the AIP.

Months ago, Rashid swayed the parliamentary elections while he was still in jail and defeated the National Conference’s Omar Abdullah.

In the parliamentary elections, the voter turnout was 58.46%, and it will be interesting to see the numbers in the third phase of the assembly elections. In the first phase, voter turnout was 61.38% of 2.3 million voters in 24 constituencies, the highest in the last seven assembly polls. In the second phase, the voter turnout was 56%, with approximately 29% recorded in the city. Srinagar’s turnout showed how the people in the city stayed away from the polls even after years without a political representative in the region.

The participation of candidates backed by Jamaat-e-Islami in certain north Kashmir constituencies adds a new layer of complexity to this competitive election. As the region approaches the final phase of the assembly elections, Sopore, the hometown of the Hurriyat patriarch late Syed Ali Shah Geelani, draws significant attention. Sopore is where Geelani campaigned in elections until 1987.

In Bandipora, Jamaat-backed candidate Hafiz Muhammad Sikander Malik is contesting elections. Malik, a former district president of Jamaat-e-Islami, was jailed after New Delhi abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and now, he is out on bail but he has been wearing a GPS tracker installed by the government forces to track his movement.

In the Baramulla segment, former Jamaat member Abdul Rehman Shalla is in a tight race with Muzaffar Baig and his nephew Javaid Baig, who is the NC candidate, among others. Meanwhile, in Langate, Sheikh Khursheed, brother of Engineer Rashid, is competing against Dr. Kaleemullah Lone, who is backed by Jamaat and is the son of veteran Ghulam Qadir Lone, among other candidates.

While many prominent names are participating in the third phase, a few days ago, two minor girls were seen campaigning for their jailed father in Sopore. However, they received little to no attention from the locals and shops they approached.

This kind of campaigning in the hope of freedom for their father isn’t the first. It started with Rashid’s sons, which was followed by the daughter of jailed cleric Sarjan Barkati. And now, these minor girls are joining in.

This assembly election, taking place in the region after a decade of no political representation, has energized candidates from all participating parties. The elections have seen intense campaigning day in and day out by prominent figures across Jammu and Kashmir, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

Kharge, 83, fell ill yesterday while addressing people in Jammu and stated that he won’t die before removing PM Modi from his position. “We will fight to restore statehood,” he said. “I am not going to die so early. I will stay alive until Prime Minister Narendra Modi is removed from power.”

While analysts believe the NC-INC alliance might succeed in forming the government, only on the day of the results it will be clear who will rule the corridors of powerless power.