Amitha Reji George, Pune
Voters in Jammu and Kashmir voted today (October 1, 2024), for the Phase 3 and final phase of its Assembly elections to decide the electoral fate of 415 candidates including two former deputy CMs Muzaffar Beig and Tara Chand.
65.84% of voters had casted votes till 5:00 p.m. Voting rights were given to West Pakistani immigrants, Valmiki Samaj, and Gorkha community members after Article 370 was revoked. They had previously taken part in the elections for the District Development Council in 2020 and the Block Development Council in 2019.
There are up to 415 contenders contesting for the 40 seats up for election today. Twenty-four of these seats are in the Jammu part of the prior state, and sixteen are in the Kashmir region.
At 5,060 polling booths during the third round of voting, about 3.9 million people were eligible to exercise their right to vote. According to the Indian Election Commission, phase 3 voting will take place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Prominent candidates in the third round of voting include Dev Singh, the National Panthers Party India president, and former minister and chairman of the People’s Conference Sajjad Lone. Several candidates are fighting for the 90 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir election. The People’s Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the two other main rivals in the elections, with the National Conference and the Congress allied.
Voter turnout in phase one was 61.38% and phase two was 57.31%. These are higher than the Lok Sabha elections. The seven districts who went for phase one recorded 60% and the six districts that went to phase 2 recorded 52,17% turnout in the General elections 2024. But the districts that went for phase 3 surpassed the turnout in the recently held parliamentary polls which was 66.78%.
Exit polls for the election will take place on October 5 and counting will happen on October 8.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed faith that a significant number of female and young voters would participate in today’s last round of voting.