STRINGENT security arrangements have been put in place at all district headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir for the counting of votes on Tuesday for the 90-member Assembly, paving way for first elected Government in the Union Territory following the abrogation of Article 370 five years ago. A three-tier security set up has been put in place at all the 20 counting centres across Jammu and Kashmir where the votes will be counted on Tuesday, said an official of the Election Commission. The first Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014 was held over three phases with 24 seats going to polls in the first phase on September 18. The second phase of polling was held on September 18 in which 26 seats went to polls while the polling for remaining 40 seats was held on October 1.

 

“Only authorised counting agents of the contesting candidates and staff posted on counting duty will be allowed inside the counting halls,” the official said. He said the tally of votes for each candidate will be announced after every round of counting on the public address system outside the counting halls. The first ever polls in Jammu and Kashmir after it was made a Union Territory witnessed a voter turnout of 63.45 per cent, less than the 65.52 percent recorded in the 2014 Assembly elections. The fate of 873 candidates, vying for a seat in the 90-member house, has been sealed and it will be known by Tuesday evening. The prominent among those in the fray are National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, who is contesting from Budgam and Ganderbal segments; Sajad Gani Lone of People’s Conference who is contesting from Handwara and Kupwara seats; Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra, who is a candidate from Batamaloo seat; and BJP state president Ravindra Raina, who is contesting from Nowshera seat.

 

The other notable contestants are AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir (Dooru), PDP leaders Waheed Para (Pulwama), Iltija Mufti (Bijbehara), Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari (Chanapora), CPI(M) veteran Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami (Kulgam) and former deputy chief ministers Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Tara Chand. The exit polls, which came out on Saturday, have put the National Conference-Congress alliance in the pole position with the regional party getting the lion’s share of the seats. The BJP is expected to slightly improve on its tally of 25 seats which it had won in the 2014 assembly polls while the PDP, which had won 28 seats in the polls held 10 years ago, is predicted to win less than 10 seats this time. The pollsters have not given much of a chance to the new and emerging parties like the People’s Conference, Apni Party, Democratic Azad Party of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Awami Ittehad Party of Lok Sabha member Sheikh Abdul Rashid. These parties along with independents are expected to win around 10 seats.