J&K Assembly Elections Phase II: Important Candidates In The Fray (image:x.com/ECISVEEP/)
The second phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls falls on Wednesday, September 25. The first phase of polling held on September 18 witnessed a significant voter turnout of 61.38 percent.
Among the 239 candidates, high-profile candidates in the fray includes NC Vice President and former chief minister Omar Abdullah, BJP state chief Ravinder Raina, JKPCC president Tariq Hameed Karra, Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari, and jailed separatist Sarjan Ahmad Wagay.
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Twenty-Six assembly segments spread across six districts including Ganderbal, Srinagar, Budgam, Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch districts falls under the second phase. Security has been accelerated across Jammu and Kashmir, especially in Srinagar and the Pir Panjal valley.
The constituencies include Kangan, Ganderbal, Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Channapora, Zadibal, Eidgah, Central Shalteng, Budgam, Beerwah, Khansahib, Chrar-i-Sharief, Chadoora, Gulabgarh, Reasi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Kalakote- Sunderbani, Nowshera, Rajouri, Budhal, Thannamandi, Surankote, Poonch Haveli, and Mendhar.
More than 2.5 million people will be eligible to cast their franchise across 26 constituencies – 11 in Jammu and 15 in Kashmir – on Wednesday, officials said.
Important Candidates
This time, NC stalwart Omar Abdullah is contesting from two assembly segments: Ganderbal and Budgam. Omar, son of Farooq Abdullah and grandson of the NC founder late Sheikh Abdullah, became the youngest Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir when the government was formed in coalition with Congress in January 2009. He has also served as the Minister of State for External Affairs in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2001. Omar is contesting from the Ganderbal seat for the third time.
The current Kashmir Assembly election marks JKPCC Chief Tariq Hameed Karra’s first election after joining Congress in 2017. In the polls, he will contest from Central Shalteng Assembly constituency. He took over the role of Congress Chief replacing former Minister Vikar Rasool Wani in August this year.
Karra quit Mehbooba Multi-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2016, expressing ideological disagreements with the party – especially their unholy alliance with the BJP.
Ravinder Raina, has been serving as the Jammu and Kashmir BJP president since 2017. Known as a firebrand leader, he is seeking his second term from the Nowshera constituency of Rajouri district. In the polls, he is encountering a tough challenge from his former party colleague Surinder Choudhary. This is for the second time, Raina and Chaudhary competing against each other for an assembly seat.
Former minister and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) chief Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari is contesting from Chanapora, a newly formed assembly seat following delimitation. One of the state’s notable businessmen, Bukhari’s second innings as a politician started when he joined the PDP in 2004. In 2019, he was expelled from the party for “anti-party activities. As a significant turn, Bukhari, along with former ministers and legislators who left PDP, floated the new political outfit JKAP in 2020.
Sagar, a seasoned politician and general secretary of the National Conference (NC), is seeking his fifth term from the Khanyar assembly seat. He has been winning the seat since 1996. In the 2008 polls, Sagar received 6314 votes. He had defeated PDP candidate Showkat Ahmad Hafiz by a margin of 5508 votes. In 2014, he defeated PDP’s Muhammad Khurshid Alam by a margin of 1167 votes.
He has also served various ministerial roles within Omar Abdullah-led Jammu and Kashmir government. In the polls, Sagar is pitted against PDP’s new face, Tafazul Mushtaq.
Also Read | Eidgah Constituency: A Tough Battle, But For Whom?
Jailed cleric and separatist leader Sarjan Ahmad Wagay, alias Sarjan Barkati, filed his nominations from the Ganderbal and Beerwah Assembly segments as an independent candidate. Barkati is well known as the face of the 2016 protest in Kashmir Valley, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. In August 2023, citing his alleged involvement in a terror-funding case, he was booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the State Investigation Agency (SIA).
