Jammu and Kashmir’s Final Phase of Assembly Elections Begins Today
The third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election starts today at 7 AM. This phase includes 40 constituencies, with 24 in the Jammu division and the rest in the Kashmir Valley. Over 3.9 million voters in seven districts are eligible to vote, and the voting will continue until 6 PM.
At least 415 candidates are contesting in this phase, including former deputy chief ministers Tara Chand from Congress and Muzaffar Hussain Beig. Mock polling has already begun at various polling booths.
Vikram Randhawa, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Bahu assembly constituency, offered prayers at the Bawe Wali Mata Mahakali Mandir before the elections. His main opponents are Congress’ Taranjit Singh Tony and PDP’s Varinder Singh. Randhawa expressed his hopes for a positive outcome, stating, “I prayed that Mata Rani strengthens the nationalist powers. These elections will take Jammu and Kashmir in a new direction.”
The election campaign concluded on Sunday evening. This election is significant as it is the first in a decade and the first since the revocation of Article 370 in August 2019. The three-phase election involves a multi-party contest for 90 seats across the former state.
The National Conference (NC) and Congress have formed an alliance, while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and BJP are also major contenders. The first phase of voting took place on September 18, and the second phase concluded on September 25, with voter turnouts of 61% and 57.31%, respectively.
High-profile leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and former J-K chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti, have been actively campaigning. The votes will be counted on October 8.
Doubts Revealed
Jammu and Kashmir -: Jammu and Kashmir is a region in northern India. It used to be a state but is now a Union Territory.
Assembly Elections -: Assembly Elections are when people vote to choose their representatives in the state government.
Constituencies -: Constituencies are areas that elect one representative to the Assembly. There are 40 such areas in this election.
BJP -: BJP stands for Bharatiya Janata Party, a major political party in India.
Vikram Randhawa -: Vikram Randhawa is a candidate from the BJP who is participating in the elections.
Congress -: Congress is another major political party in India, also known as the Indian National Congress.
NC -: NC stands for National Conference, a political party mainly active in Jammu and Kashmir.
PDP -: PDP stands for People’s Democratic Party, another political party in Jammu and Kashmir.
Article 370 -: Article 370 was a special law that gave Jammu and Kashmir more autonomy than other states in India. It was revoked in 2019.
Votes counted -: Votes counted means the process of adding up all the votes to see who won the election.