Jammu and Kashmir readied itself Wednesday for the second round of the Assembly elections, with all 26 of its seats spread across six districts in both the Jammu region and the Kashmir Valley. Campaigning ended on Monday evening.
The Election Commission said a statement that over 25.78 lakh voters in Ganderbal, Srinagar, and Budgam districts of the Kashmir division and Reasi, Rajouri, and Poonch districts of the Jammu division will decide the fate of 239 candidates in the second phase of polls.
As many as 93 candidates are in the fray in Srinagar district, 46 in Budgam, 34 in Rajouri, 25 in Poonch, 21 in Ganderbal, while 20 candidates are in the fray in Reasi.
The 15 seats in the Kashmir division heading to the hustings are Kangan (ST) - six candidates, Ganderbal - 15, Hazratbal - 13, Khanyar - 10, Habbakadal - 16, Lal Chowk - 10, Channapora - eight, Zadibal - 10, Eidgah - 13, Central Shalteng - 13, Budgam - eight, Beerwah - 12, Khansahib - 10, Chrar-i-Sharief - 10, and Chadoora - six, while the 11 in the Jammu division are Gulabgarh (ST) - six candidates, Reasi - seven, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi - seven, Kalakote-Sunderbani - 11, Nowshera - five, Rajouri (ST) - eight, Budhal (ST) - four, Thannamandi (ST) - six, Surankote (ST) - eight, Poonch Haveli - eight, and Mendhar (ST) - nine.
As many as 25,78,099 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes in this phase according to the latest electoral rolls, of whom are 13,12,730 lakh male voters and 12,65,316 lakh female voters, and 53 third gender voters. Underlining the importance of the role played by the youth of Jammu and Kashmir in strengthening democracy, as many as 1,20,612 lakh voters belonging to 18-19 years of age have been added to the electoral rolls for Phase II.
Of these, 11,294 are male first-time voters and 10,065 are female. The phase will also see 19,201 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) voters and 20,880 voters above the age of 85.
Total registered voters in the Srinagar district stand at 7,76,674. Of those, males are 3,87,722 and females 3,88,922, while 30 are transgender voters of eight Assembly constituencies. Rajouri has a total of 4,92,008 electorates comprising 2,56,215 males, 2,35,786 females, and 7 transgender voters. As many as 745 polling stations have been set up in the district.
Budgam district comprises five Assembly constituencies. In total, 5,11,864 voters are registered in this district; of which, males are 2,59,688 and females are 2,52,163; 13 transgender voters. In total, 639 polling stations have been developed across the district.
Poonch district is bifurcated into three Assembly constituencies; in total, 3,52,330 are registered voters; among them, males are 1,80,584, females 1,71,746, and 483 polling stations.
A total of 2,37,205 voters are registered in the Reasi district, including 1,24,359 males, 1,12,843 females, and 3 transgender people across three Assembly constituencies, and 436 polling stations have been put up in the district.
The Ganderbal district has a total number of 2,08,018 registered voters with male and female numbers at 1,04,162 and 1,03,856 respectively, and 267 polling stations have been put up.
The ECI has established the total of 3,502 polling stations with 100 percent webcasting across 26 Assembly constituencies. These can be divided into 1,056 Urban Polling stations and 2,446 Rural Polling stations. As many as 157 special polling stations have been readied in the second phase of the election, out of which 26 polling booths run by women have been named as Pink Polling Stations. Additionally, 26 polling stations are manned by specially-abled persons, 26 manned by youths, 31 Border polling stations, 26 green polling stations, and 22 Unique Polling stations
The voting would take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., the ECI statement said.
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