Srinagar, September 18: Voting began for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, first time since the abrogation of Article 370, as 24 constituencies spread over seven districts of the Union Territory went to polls in Phase 1 amid tight security arrangements, officials said. This is the maiden assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir in a Union Territory setup — also the first poll to elect an assembly in the last 10 years.

The Centre abrogated Article 370, that gave special status to J-K, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two UTs – J-K and Ladakh -- on August 5, 2019. All arrangements, including security related, are in place and the polling began at 7 am across the 24 assembly segments in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: More Than 35,000 Kashmiri Pandits Eligible for Voting in First Phase of Vidhan Sabha Polls on September 18.

In the first phase of the three-phase polls, seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir, located on either side of Pir Panjal mountain range, are voting to choose their representatives. Over 23 lakh voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents, who are running for 24 assembly segments -- eight in three districts of Jammu region and 16 in four districts of Kashmir valley.

According to the Election Commission (EC), a total of 23,27,580 electors are eligible to vote in phase 1, comprising 11,76,462 male, 11,51,058 female, and 60 third gender electors. "As many as 1.23 lakh youth between the age 18 to 19 years, along with 28,309 Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) and 15,774 elderly voters above the age of 85 are also eligible to exercise their franchise in phase one," an EC official said. The official said a total of 14,000 polling staff will oversee the process at 3,276 polling stations. Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: ‘This Election Is Between Those Who Have Abrogated Article 370 and Those Who Brought Article 370’, Says Home Minister Amit Shah.

"There are 302 urban polling stations 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 1st phase election," he said. Officials said the security arrangements include multi-tier forces from the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF), Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police, and J-K Police.

Prominent candidates in Kashmir whose fate will be sealed on Wednesday include CPI (M)'s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, National Conference's Sakina Itoo, and PDP's Sartaj Madni and Abdul Rehman Veeri. PDP's Iltija Mufti, running from Srigufwara-Bijbehara, and the party's youth leader Waheed Para, from Pulwama, are also the contenders to watch for who are in the fray in the first phase.

In Jammu, trying their luck are former ministers Sajjad Kitchloo (NC), Khalid Najib Suharwardy (NC) Vikar Rasool Wani (Congress), Abdul Majid Wani (DPAP), Sunil Sharma (BJP), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda west), and Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, a three-time MLA who is fighting as an Independent after he was denied ticket by DPAP which he had joined after quitting Congress in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad two years ago.

Former MLA Daleep Singh Parihar (BJP), former MLC Firdous Tak and Imtiyaz Shan (PDP), NC's Pooja Thakur, the sitting chairperson of district development council Kishtwar, BJP's young face Shagun Parihar, whose father Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were killed by terrorists in November 2018, and Mehraj din Malik of AAP are among other prominent faces in the fray.

Among the constituencies going to the polls on Wednesday are Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, Pahalgam, Inderwal, Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Bhadarwah, Doda, Doda West, Ramban and Banihal. The polling is scheduled to end at 6 pm. The other two phases are being held on September 25 and October 1, while the counting of the votes will take place on October 8.

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