The third and final phase of the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is set to take on Tuesday, October 1. This phase will decide the electoral fate of 415 candidates including two former deputy chief ministers Tara Chand and Muzaffar Beig, officials said. Over 39.18 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise at 5,060 polling stations in this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly seats – 24 in Jammu region and 16 in Kashmir valley. This includes Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir.
The highlight of the voting will be participation of west Pakistani refugees, Valmiki Samaj and Gorkha community who got the voting rights in assembly, urban local bodies and panchayat elections only after the abrogation of Article 370. They have earlier voted in block development council and district development council polls in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
The voter turnout was robust in the earlier phases, with 61.38 per cent participation recorded in the first phase on September 18 and 57.31 per cent in the second phase on September 26. This is the first Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019, with the results set to be announced on October 8.
In Jammu division, Jammu district accounts for the highest number of 11 segments (Bishnah-SC, Suchetgarh-SC, R S Pura, Jammu South, Bahu, Jammu East, Nagrota, Jammu West, Jammu North, Akhnoor-SC and Chhamb), followed by six seats in Kathua district (Bani, Billawar, Basohli, Jasrota, Kathua-SC and Hiranagar), four in Udhampur district (Udhampur West, Udhampur East, Chenni and Ramnagar-SC) and three in Samba (Ramgarh-SC, Samba and Vijaypur).
Similarly in Kashmir division, 16 assembly constituencies including Karnah, Tregham, Kupwara, Lolab, Handwara and Langate fall in Kupwara district, Sopore, Rafiabad, Uri, Baramulla, Gulmarg, Wagoora-Kreeri and Pattan in Baramulla district and Sonawari, Bandipora, Gurez (ST) in Bandipora district.
(With inputs from PTI)
