Jammu Kashmir Assembly Election 2024: Phase 2 Records 54% Voter Turnout
The second phase of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections witnessed 54% voter turnout, with 26 constituencies in six districts under heavy security. Omar Abdullah, the former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) leader, is one of the prominent candidates contesting from Budgam and Ganderbal, among a total of 238 candidates.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has fielded the highest number of candidates with 26, followed by the National Conference with 20, BJP with 17, and the Congress with six. Additionally, there are 170 independent and other candidates in the fray.
Security arrangements were made across 3,502 polling stations, with 13,000 personnel deployed from the police, armed police, and central paramilitary forces.
Other key candidates in this phase include BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir chief Ravinder Raina (Nowshera) and Congress chief Tariq Hamid Karra (Central Shalteng). Prominent figures like Apni Party President Altaf Bukhari (Channapora), former ministers Ali Mohammad Sagar (Khanyar), Abdul Rahim Rather (Chrar-i-Sharief), and jailed cleric Sarjan Ahmad Wagay (Beerwah) are also contesting in this phase.
In this phase, over 15,500 displaced Kashmiri Pandit voters will cast their ballots at 24 special polling stations. In Jammu, 14,700 voters will vote at 19 polling stations, while over 600 voters will vote in Delhi at four polling stations. Udhampur will see 350 voters cast their ballots at one polling station.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged voters to “cast their votes and play their important role in strengthening democracy.” He tweeted, “Congratulations to all the young friends voting for the first time.”
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also appealed to voters to vote for the Opposition INDIA alliance. He tweeted, “By snatching away your statehood, the BJP government has insulted you. Every vote for INDIA will break this cycle of injustice.”
In this phase, a total of 25,98,099 voters are eligible to vote, with 13,12,730 male, 12,65,316 female, and 54 third-gender voters.
Voting for the third and final phase of the elections will take place on October 1, and vote counting will be held on October 8.
