Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024 Phase 1 Polling: From Voting Date to List of Constituencies Going to Polls and Key Candidate, Here’s All You Need To Know

Srinagar, September 10: The stage is all set for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, with the first phase of Vidhan Sabha polls to be held on Wednesday, September 18, followed by the second and third phases on September 25 and October 1, respectively. It must be noted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the assembly election schedule for Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir on August 16. The results of the Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Sabha polls will be declared together on October 8.

Jammu and Kashmir Phase 1 Voting Date and Time

Voting for the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held on September 18. Of the 90 assembly seats of the Union Territory, 24 constituencies will go to the polls in phase 1. Some of the key seats going to poll in the first phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag, Pahalgam and Ramban. Polling is likely to begin at 8 AM and end by 5 PM in most of the assembly constituencies. Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: Borders Fully Secure, Will Not Allow Terrorists To Disturb Polls, Assures BSF.

List of Constituencies Going to Poll in First Phase

In the first phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, 16 assembly segments will go to polls in South Kashmir and eight seats in the Jammu region. The 16 assembly constituencies of the valley going to poll include Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, and Pahalgam. On the other hand, the eight seats of the Jammu region going to vote on September 18 are Inderwal, Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Bhadarwah, Doda, Doda West, Ramban, and Banihal.

Key Candidates Contesting September 18 Election

Pulwama, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Anantnag, Pahalgam, Inderwal, Banihal and Ramban are some of the key constituencies to watch out for in the first phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. In Pulwama, there will be a two-way fight between Waheed-ur Rehman Parra of PDP and Mohammad Khalil Bandh. On the other hand, Anantnag will likely witness a multi-cornered fight between BJP's Syed Wazahat, Congress leader Peerzada Mohd Syed and Mehboob Beg of PDP. The Inderbal seat will also see a three-way battle between Tariq Keen, Sheikh Zafarullah and Hussain Sheikh of BJP, Congress and PDP, respectively. Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024: Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi Among Congress’ 40 Star Campaigners for 1st Phase of Polls.

Political Parties in Fray for Jammu and Kashmir Elections

Several parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), National Conference (NC), Congress, People's Democratic Party (PDP), Ajit Pawar-Led NCP, and others, are competing in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. The saffron party is contesting the Vidhan Sabha polls in the Union Territory alone. At the same time, the National Conference and Congress have formed an alliance, with the former contesting 51 seats and the latter on 32 seats.

The upcoming elections in Jammu and Kashmir will also witness a friendly contest between NC and Congress on five assembly seats. The alliance has kept one seat each for CPI (M) in south Kashmir and the Panthers Party in the Jammu division. It must be noted that this will be the first assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014 and also the first after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2024 02:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).