Ali Asad
Srinagar, Jun 3: Finally the big day has arrived as the counting of votes will start Tuesday for the five crucial Lok Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir amid multi-layer security cover.
The Election Commission has established 10 counting centers for the five Lok Sabha seats in J&K with one of these centers set up in Delhi to count the votes of Kashmiri migrants living outside Kashmir. The counting of votes for five J&K LS seats will begin simultaneously with the rest of the country.
Early results for Ladakh and Udhampur
Among the six Lok Sabha seats of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh, the results for Udhampur and Ladakh are expected first. The results for the remaining four seats—Jammu, Anantnag-Rajori, Srinagar, and Baramulla—will take longer due to the high number of candidates, which has necessitated the use of two EVMs for each seat.
Key candidates await results
The fate of over 100 candidates, including prominent figures like Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh, former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, will be decided on June 4. Other notable candidates include former minister Chaudhary Lal Singh, MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, Congress working president Raman Bhalla, veteran NC leaders Mian Altaf and Ruhullah Mehdi, Apni Party’s Zafar Iqbal Manhas and Mohd. Ashraf Mir, People’s Conference chief Sajjad Gani Lone, and Awami Ittehad Party chief Engineer Rashid. In Ladakh, the results will determine the fate of BJP’s Tashi Gyalsan, Congress’s T Namgyal, and independent Haji Hanifa Jaan.
Security and preparations for counting
Section 144 has been imposed outside the counting centers, which will remain in effect until June 5. The district administration has issued I-cards to personnel on counting duty, and around 1,000 agents have been given access cards. Approximately 2,000 to 2,500 personnel have been deployed for vote counting. . A meeting was held between District Deputy Commissioners Sachin Kumar and the election candidates and their agents to ensure smooth vote counting. Counting will be held at SKICC Srinagar. For Baramulla Seat, counting will be held in Degree College Baramulla. On the other hand, counting of votes for Anantnag- Rajouri seat will be held in Degree College Anantnag. Jammu parliamentary seat will take place at MAM College Jammu and Polytechnic Vikram Chowk. Talking to reporters in Jammu on Saturday, Director General of Police (DGP) RR Swain had said that each counting centre is under the 24×7 surveillance of the CCTVs while there are at least two companies of security forces deployed for securing the counting centre. The DGP had stated that there will be multi-layer security cover at every counting centre.
Strategies by political parties
Political parties, particularly BJP and Congress, have strategized with their booth agents for the vote counting on Tuesday. Agents are expected to report at 6:00 am, accompanied by a large number of supporters outside.
Security at the strong room
A tight security cordon surrounds the strong room at Polytechnic College Jammu, where the vote counting for the Jammu parliamentary seat will take place. Police officers are personally monitoring the strong room, with extensive security measures implemented within a 200-meter radius of the counting center.
Exit poll predictions
Exit polls indicate that BJP is likely to secure two seats in Udhampur and Jammu, while NC is projected to win three seats in Anantnag, Srinagar, and Baramulla. All parties have finalized their preparations for vote counting, and agents have been briefed on necessary protocols. (KNO)
