Seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir, located on either side of Pir Panjal mountain range, will vote for the first time in an assembly election in 10 years as the stage is set for phase 1 polling in the union territory on Wednesday.

Over 23 lakh voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 independents, who are running for 24 assembly segments --“ eight in three districts of Jammu region and 16 in four districts of Kashmir valley.

This will be the first assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

According to the Election Commission (EC), a total of 23,27,580 electors are eligible to vote in phase 1, comprising 11,76,462 male, 11,51,058 female and 60 third-gender electors. "As many as 1.23 lakh youth between the age 18 to 19 years, along with 28,309 Person with Disabilities (PwDs) and 15,774 elderly voters above the age of 85 are also eligible to exercise their franchise in phase one," an EC official said.

The official said a total of 14,000 polling staff will oversee the process at 3,276 polling stations, ensuring smooth conduct of the polls.

"There are 302 urban polling stations and 2,974 rural polling stations. Four election staff, including the Presiding Officer, will be stationed in each polling station. In total, more than 14,000 polling staff will be deployed on duty for the 1st phase election," he said.

"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, Birdi added. Prominent candidates in Kashmir include CPI (M)'s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, National Conference's Sakina Itoo, and PDP’s Sartaj Madni and Abdul Rehman Veeri. PDP's Iltija Mufti, running from Bijbehara, is in a triangular contest with NC's Bashir Ahmad Veeri and BJP's Sofi Mohammad Yousuf.

Prominent candidates in Kashmir include CPI (M)'s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, who is seeking a fifth consecutive term from Kulgam segment. AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir is hoping for a third term from Dooru, while National Conference's Sakina Itoo is seeking another term from Damhal Hajipora. PDP's Sartaj Madni (Devsar) and Abdul Rehman Veeri (Shangus-Anantnag) are also key candidates to watch out for.

However, all eyes will be on Srigufwara-Bijbehara and Pulwama assembly segments where PDP's Iltija Mufti and Waheed Para are contesting polls, respectively.

Iltija Mufti,“ the third generation politician from her family to run for office from Bijbehara, is in a triangular contest with NC's Bashir Ahmad Veeri and BJP's Sofi Mohammad Yousuf.

However, Para -- an accused in a terror case --“ faces stiff challenge from his former party colleague Mohammad Khalil Bandh, who is now contesting on NC ticket. The contest here has been spiced up by the entry of a former member of banned Jamaat-e-Islami Talat Majid Alie. Tarigami also faces a similar candidate in Sayar Ahmad Reshi.

In Jammu, trying their luck are former ministers Sajjad Kitchloo (NC), Khalid Najid Suharwardy (NC) Vikar Rasool Wani (Congress), Abdul Majid Wani (DPAP), Sunil Sharma (BJP), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda west) and Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, a three-time MLA who is fighting as an independent after he was denied ticket by DPAP which he had joined after quitting Congress in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad two years ago.

Former MLA Daleep Singh Parihar (BJP), former MLC Firdous Tak and Imtiyaz Shan (PDP), NC's Pooja Thakur who is sitting chairperson of district development council Kishtwar, BJP's young face Shagun Parihar, whose father Ajit Parihar and uncle Anil Parihar were killed by terrorists in November 2018, and Mehraj din Malik of AAP are among other prominent faces in the fray.

Even as the National Conference (NC) and the Congress are in alliance, both the parties have fielded candidates in Banihal, Bhaderwah and Doda under 'friendly contest', while a rebel NC leader Pyare Lal Sharma is fighting as an independent from Inderwal and two BJP rebels, Rakesh Goswami and Suraj Singh Parihar, are also trying their luck from Ramban and Padder-Nagseni constituencies.

The constituencies going to the polls on Wednesday include Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, Pahalgam, Inderwal, Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Bhadarwah, Doda, Doda West, Ramban and Banihal.

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