Amir Tantray
Jammu, Oct 2: As all three phases of Assembly polls have culminated peacefully in J&K, all eyes are now on October 8, the day results of 90 seats will be out. On the same day, things will be clear as to who will form the government J&K after a gap of ten years.
After Tuesday’s polling, focus has shifted to appointment of counting agents by the candidates as well as preparation by the election commission of India to keep the counting day peaceful and foolproof.
The Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held after 10 years and this time the enthusiasm of people to participate in the democratic process was unmatched.
During these elections the fate of one former chief minister, UT president of two major national parties Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), chiefs of three major regional parties, several former ministers and many new faces has been sealed in the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
The presence of banned Jamaat-e-Islami backed candidates in the electoral politics for the first time since 1987 allegedly rigged elections has given a new direction to these elections which is one of the reasons for improved voter turnout in Kashmir valley. The JeI backed candidates contested as independents but they were of the opinion that had the union government lifted the ban on their organization, they would have contested over 50 seats in the UT.
This Assembly election was first for a couple of parties, J&K Apni Party led by former minister and PDPian Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari and Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) led by former congressman Ghulam Nabi Azad, which came into existence after the August 5, 2019 decision of abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, and their presence, especially in Kashmir region and Chenab valley of Jammu region, was visible.
During the campaigning there was a visible regional divide between Kashmir valley and Jammu region and even the BJP leaders from Jammu mince no words to seek votes on the name of Dogra Hindu CM from Jammu.
This election, held in three phases, was incident free and no untoward incident happened anywhere in the UT and the Election Commission of India (ECI) tried their best to make it free and fair.
To enhance participation of more people into the electoral process, things like home voting for 85 plus voters and persons with disability, postal ballots for government employees working outside their home districts and advance postal ballot voting for employees appointed on election duty were witnessed which saw huge participation.
