Amir Tantray
Jammu, Sep 24: Stage is set for the second phase of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir in which 26 Assembly constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir will be going for polls on September 25, in which fate of several high profile leaders including former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and others will be sealed.
These constituencies, have a total of 25.78 lakh electorates which include 13.13 lakh male, 12.65 lakh female and 53 third gender electorates.
As per the chief electoral officer (CEO) Jammu and Kashmir around 1.21 lakh voters are between the age group of 18 to 19 whereas over 19,000 electorates are with Persons with Disability (PwD) and 20880 voters are above the age group of 85.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has established 3502 polling stations across 26 Assembly constituencies which include 2446 rural, 1056 urban, 26 green, 26 all women managed, 26 all PwD managed and 26 with youth managed polling stations.
There are 239 candidates in the fray which include 233 male and only six female candidates.
There are many high profile candidates in the fray which include Omar Abdullah, who is contesting from Ganderbal and Budgam Assembly constituencies, Apni Party President Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari, contesting from Chanapora Assembly constituency of Srinagar, BJP J&K president Ravinder Raina, contesting from Nowshera assembly constituency of Rajouri district and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Tariq Hameed Karra contesting from central Shalteng Assembly constituency of Srinagar district.
During this second phase, eight constituencies of Srinagar district including Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Chanapora, Zadibal, Eidgah and Central Shalteng, two constituencies of Ganderbal district including Ganderbal and Kangan, five constituencies of Budgam district including Budgam, Beerwah, Khansahib, Charar-i-Sharief and Chadoora, three constituencies of Reasi district including Gulabgarh, Reasi and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, five constituencies of Rajouri district including Budhal, Rajouri, Thannamandi, Nowshera and Kalakote-Sunderbani and three constituencies of Poonch district including Surankote, Poonch-Haveli and Mendhar will be going for polls.
The campaigning for the second phase witnessed high profile events like Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a rally in Srinagar, Leader of Opposition (LOP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi addressing a couple of rallies, one in Surankote and another in Srinagar and union home minister Amit Shah and other top BJP star campaigners addressing rallies all across.
The counting of the votes for all the three phase of Assembly elections in J&K will be held on October 8 alongside Haryana.
