Srinagar Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 4: 1st major election since Article 370 abrogation
Voting for the Lok Sabha election 2024 is underway in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar in the fourth phase. This is the first major election in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. As many as 24 candidates are in the fray in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.
The Srinagar seat comprises Srinagar, Ganderbal and Pulwama districts and parts of Budgam and Shopian districts. There are 17.48 lakh voters in the constituency.
Voting began at 7am in Srinagar, as part of the fourth round of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. Across India, more than 1,700 candidates are in contention in the 96 Lok Sabha constituencies.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, polling was held for six seats in Jammu and Kashmir. After the abrogation of Article 370, the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state was split into two Union Territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. There is no longer a separate Lok Sabha constituency for Ladakh.
Top updates on Lok Sabha election 2024 in Srinagar
There are 2,135 polling stations across the five districts in Srinagar.
Voting is scheduled to end at 6 pm in the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency
National Conference and People’s Democratic Party are the two major competitors in the constituency.
Influential Shia leader and former minister Aga Ruhullah Mehdi is the National Conference’s candidate on the seat. Meanwhile, the PDP has fielded its youth president Waheed Para as its candidate.
Other important candidates in the fray are the Apni Party’s Mohammad Ashraf Mir and the DPAP’s Amir Ahmad Bhat.
The Election Commission has made high-security arrangements at the polling booths in Srinagar.
For migrant voters of the Kashmir Division, 26 special polling stations have been set up with 21 in Jammu, four in Delhi and one in Udhampur District.
People’s Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti has alleged that her party workers are being harassed and illegally detained. She has written a letter to the Election Commission with these allegations.