J&K elections Phase 1: BJP vs Cong-NC poll contest on 24 seats, Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP, Engineer Rashid too in fray

The high-stakes Jammu and Kashmir electoral battle kicks off on Wednesday with 24 assembly constituencies going to vote in the first of three-phased elections.

More than 23 lakh voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates in the presence of 14,000 polling staff across 3,276 voting stations. J&K is witnessing the first assembly election since the abrogation of Article 370.

Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam in the Kashmir Division and Doda, Ramban, and Kishtwar in the Jammu Division will vote in the first phase.

“In the first phase of Assembly elections, polls will be held in seven districts on September 18. I request all the voters living in these seven districts which comprise 24 Assembly constituencies to go and vote at their local polling station. Polling stations have been established in every village, they will function from 7 am to 6 pm tomorrow. Basic facilities are available at all the polling stations. There will be separate queues for men and women,” J&K chief electoral officer Pandurang K Pole told PTI.

Political parties in fray

The Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections are a litmus test for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has outrightly defended its decision to abrogate Article 370 five years ago.

At an election rally in Doda on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the elections will decide the fate of Jammu and Kashmir in terms of governance.

“This time the elections are going to decide the fate of Jammu and Kashmir. Since independence, our beloved J-K has been targeted by foreign powers. After this, ‘pariwarwad’ started hollowing this beautiful state. The political parties you trusted here did not care about your children. Those political parties only promoted their children,” Modi had said.

The BJP is pitted against the Congress-National Conference alliance. Both the parties had ran a coalition government from 2008 to 2014 under Omar Abdullah when J&K was a state. In its manifesto, the Farooq Abdullah-led NC has promised restoration of autonomy, Article 370 and statehood for the union territory. The Congress has promised restoration of full statehood to J&K.

However, Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which ran a shortlived coalition government with the BJP between 2015 and 2018, has said it will play an “instrumental” role in formation of a non-BJP government in the Union territory.

“Well, if I was not confident, I would not repeat that at every forum. I believe that, in the end, it will be a non-BJP coalition government that will be formed and the PDP is going to play an instrumental role in deciding when it will be formed,” Iltija Mufti, the daughter of Mehbooba Mufti, told PTI. She is contesting from the Bijbehara constituency.

Sheikh Abdul Rashid-led Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) is also contesting election. It has formed a strategic alliance with banned Jamaat-e-Islami, whose several former members are contesting elections as independents.

Security arrangements for J&K elections

The Jammu and Kashmir elections are being held amid rise in terror-related incidents in the region.

The security forces are leaving no stone unturned to ensure peaceful and fair elections.

“As the first phase of voting will take place on September 18, Jammu and Kashmir police have made elaborate security arrangements for the assembly polls so that maximum number of people can exercise their right to vote,” Inspector General of Police Kashmir Zone V K Birdi told PTI.

The security arrangements include multi-tier forces from the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF), Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police and J-K Police, he added.

Counting of votes

The remaining two phases will be held on September 25 and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.