Campaigning ends for final phase of polls in J-K

The election campaign for the last phase of parliamentary polls on two seats in Jammu and Kashmir ended on Saturday as over 6.97 lakh electors will decide the fate of 22 candidates including former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday.

In the last phase, Ladakh Parliamentary constituency and Pulwama-Shopian districts of Anantnag Parliamentary constituency are going to polls with a total electoral strength of 6,97,148 voters including 3,57,879 males, 3,35,799 females, 3,456 service voters and 14 transgender voters, officials said.

They said to ensure smooth conduct of polls, 1254 polling stations have been established by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The Ladakh Parliamentary constituency comprises two districts of Leh and Kargil. The Kargil district consists of two assembly segments Kargil and Zanskar while Leh district includes Nubra and Leh assembly segments, the officials said.

They said the Ladakh Lok Sabha constituency has an electoral strength of 1,74,618 voters - 86,752 males, 85,064 females, 2,799 are service voters and 3 transgender voters.

559 polling stations have been set up across the constituency for the smooth conduct of electoral exercise, the officials said.

They said the ECI has established two polling stations in Leh (Gaik) and Nubra (Washi) segments having only seven voters each while as polling station with the maximum number of voters (1301) has been set up at Shynam in Leh.

The highest polling station, Anlay Pho (Changthang), has been set up in Leh district at an altitude of 15,000 ft, the officials said, adding the booth is barely 50 metres from the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The candidates in fray for the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat are Rigzin Spalbar of Congress, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Hussain - both independents.

The voting timing for the constituency has been fixed from 7 am to 6 pm, the officials said.

Along with the Ladakh seat, the twin districts of Shopian and Pulwama part of Anantnag Parliamentary constituency of south Kashmir are also going to polls on Monday.

The polling for Anantnag seat has been held in three phases due to security reasons.

The twin districts of Pulwama and Shopian are spread over six assembly segments comprising Tral, Pampore, Pulwama, Rajpora, Wachi and Shopian. As many as 695 polling stations have been established across the districts for smooth conduct of elections, the officials said.

They said these south Kashmir districts have 5,22,530 electors including 2,71,127 males, 2,50,735 females, 657 service electors and 11 transgender voters.

Pulwama district has 3,51,314 electors including 1,81,259 males, 1,69,508 females, 541 service electors and six transgenders. For smooth polling, the ECI has set up 450 polling stations across the district.

Similarly, the officials said, Shopian District has 1,71,216 electors including 89,868 males, 81,227 females, 116 service electors and five transgenders. For smooth polling, the ECI has set up 245 polling stations across the district.

The voting timing has been fixed from 7 am to 4 pm in these districts. There are 18 candidates in the fray in Anantnag Lok Sabha seat.

Prominent ones are Mehbooba Mufti of PDP, Hasnain Masoodi of National Conference, Sofi Yousuf of BJP, Ghulam Ahmad Mir of Congress and Nisar Ahmad Wani of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party and Choudhary Zaffar Ali of Jammu Kashmir People's Conference