Voting for the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held tomorrow i.e. Wednesday. In this phase, voting will be held on 26 seats of the union territory. In the second phase of the election, around 2.6 lakh voters will cast their votes to decide the fate of the 239 candidates in the fray. The future of several candidates including National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah and BJP’s Ravindra Raina is at stake. The voting process will start from 7 am and will end at 6 pm.
National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah is contesting from two seats. Of the two constituencies, one is Ganderbal from where he has also been an MLA while the other is Budgam. Omar Abdullah has a tough challenge to win back the Ganderbal seat. Ganderbal seat is considered as Abdullah’s family seat. His grandfather Sheikh Abdullah and father Farooq Abdullah have also contested and won MLA elections from this seat.
It is believed that the loss of the Baramulla seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections put a question mark on Omar Abdullah’s political ambitions. This is the reason why he has chosen two seats for himself in the assembly elections. Now it remains to be seen whether Omar Abdullah can win two seats or not.
5 Popular Seats and Faces of Phase II
1- Ganderbal Seat: National Conference’s Omar Abdullah is contesting against PDP’s Bashir Ahmed Mir. Omar won from this seat in the 2008 assembly elections. Ishfaq Aham Sheikh of National Conference won from this seat in 2014.
2- Poonch Haveli Seat: National Conference candidate Ejaz Ahmed Jan is contesting against PDP’s Shamim Ahmed. In 2014 elections, Ijaz lost the election from here while PDP has fielded a new face from this seat this time.
3- Nowshera Seat: Here too, fierce competition can be seen. BJP has fielded Ravinder Raina from here, who is contesting against PDP’s Haque Nawaz. In the 2014 elections, the seat was won by Ravinder Raina, while in the 2008 elections, the seat went to the National Conference and was won by Radheshyam Sharma.
4- Budgam seat: National Conference’s Omar Abdullah is contesting from this seat. This is their second meeting. While PDP has fielded Agha Saeed Muntajir Mehdi. Mehdi family is considered to have a special influence on this seat. NC candidate Agha Saeed Ruhullah Mehdi won the seat in 2008 and 2014 elections.
5- The edible seat: From this seat, there is a contest between PDP’s Sheikh Gauhar Ali and National Conference’s Tanveer Sadiq. Sadiq is considered to be close to Omar Abdullah. Sadiq lost the election in 2014. It is believed that the position of both PDP and National Conference is strong in this seat.
Important matters related to the second phase elections-
- Over 25.78 lakh voters, including 1.20 lakh youth, are eligible to vote in the second phase.
- 3502 polling booths have been set up in 6 districts Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Poonch, Rajouri and Riasi.
- More than 15,000 polling staff have been deployed for the second phase of elections.
- 302 urban polling stations and 2974 rural polling stations have been set up for the second phase of elections.
- There are 13 lakh 12 thousand 730 male voters and 12 lakh 65 thousand 316 female voters in the second phase election.
- Along with 1.20 lakh youth between 18-19 years, there are also 20880 elderly voters above 85 years of age.
Voting in 6 districts of Jammu and Kashmir
In this phase of the election, voting is taking place in six districts of Jammu and Kashmir. It includes Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Poonch, Rajouri and Riasi districts. It also includes 15 seats in three districts of Central Kashmir. It includes 8 seats in Srinagar, 2 in Ganderbal and 5 in Budgam. 3500 polling booths have been set up for this phase. 3502 polling stations have been set up in 6 districts. There are 302 urban polling stations and 2974 rural polling stations.
Famous faces who will vote
- NC chief Farooq Abdullah will cast his vote at Sonwar polling station in Lal Chowk constituency.
- Omar Abdullah will vote at Sonwar polling station in Lal Chowk constituency.
- Altaf Bukhari will vote at Kohinoor Sheikh Bagh polling station in Chanpora constituency.
- Air Ejaz of BJP will cast his vote at Balhama Polling Station in Lal Chowk Constituency.
- Congress chief Tariq Kara will cast his vote at Sopore polling booth in Central Shalteng constituency.
The number of seats has increased from 83 to 90.
The number of assembly seats in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has reached 90 after the new delimitation by the Election Commission. Earlier there were 83 assembly seats in the state, which has increased by seven seats, all of which are from Jammu division. Now elections are being held in three phases on all these seats. Voting for the first phase was held on September 18. After this, voting for the second phase will be held on September 25. The election results will be announced on October 8.
