J&K assembly election 2024 updates: J&K is facing its first assembly election since the abrogation of Article 370. Agencies on alert to ensure peaceful polling.
J&K assembly election 2024 live updates: Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir will vote in its first assembly election in a decade on Wednesday, September 18. Voting will begin at 7 am and continue till 6 pm. These will also be the first assembly poll in Jammu and Kashmir since a controversial delimitation exercise earmarked 47 assembly seats for Kashmir and 43 for Jammu in its final order. Around 2.3 million people across 24 out of 90 constituencies are expected to vote on phase 1 of polling.
Facts about phase one poll
- Of the seats set for voting on Wednesday, eight are in three districts of the Jammu region — Doda, Ramban, and Kishtwar, and 16 in four districts of Kashmir — Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam.
- According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), “There are 302 urban and 2,974 rural polling stations. Four election staff, including the presiding officer, will be stationed in each polling station. In total, more than 14,000 polling staff will be deployed on duty for the first phase of election".
- Major political parties contesting the assembly elections include the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress-National Conference (NC) alliance and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
- A last-minute alliance was stitched between Engineer Rashid's Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) and politico-religious outfit Jamaat-e-Islami, but their candidates will contest as Independents.
- Key candidates in the first phase are PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija Mufti, Congress general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, and senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami.
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