lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 11, 2019 14:06 IST

More than 33 lakh voters will decide the fate of 33 candidates in Jammu and Baramulla parliamentary constituencies which are voting in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.

The high-pitch campaigning for the two constituencies ended Tuesday without any untoward incident.

In Jammu constituency, spread four districts of Jammu, Samba, Poonch and Rajouri and covering 20 assembly segments, 20,00,485 voters, including,38,497 males, 9,61,960 females and 28 belonging to the third gender, will decide the fortune of 24 candidates.

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According to figures provided by Jammu and Kashmir chief electoral officer, the constituency has 2,986 persons with disability (PwD) voters and 293 VVIP (Voter Verification and Information Programme) electors.

Of the 2,740 polling stations in the constituency, 219 booths close to the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) are ‘hyper sensitive’.

Army and Border Security Force personnel have been put on a high alert along the India-Pakistan border in Samba, Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch. The election commission has kept a contingency plan ready to ensure smooth polling in the four districts. Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Jugal Kishore is seeking re-election from the seat, while the Congress has fielded its senior vice-president and former minister Raman Bhalla, who is supported by the National Conference (NC). The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has not fielded any candidates to “prevent split of secular votes.”

In 2014, Jugal had defeated Madan Lal Sharma of the Congress by over 2.50 lakh votes. However, the presence of BJP rebel and Dogra Swabhimaan Sangthan Choudhary Lal Singh as well as PoK refugee leader Rajeev Chuni in the fray may make the going tough for Jugal.

In Baramulla Lok Sabha seat, comprising 15 assembly segments spread over three north Kashmir districts of Baramulla, Bandipore and Kupwara, a three-tier security has been put in place for smooth conduct of polling.

Besides police, personnel of CRPF, ITBP, SSB and BSF have been deployed at polling stations.

Nine candidates are in fray in Baramulla. Prominent among them are Haji Farooq Ahamd Mir of the Congress, Mohammad Maqbool War of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jahangir Khan of the NPP, Abdul Qayoom Wani of the PDP and Mohammad Akbar Lone of the NC.

The constituency has 13,08,541 electors, including 6,74,417 males, 6,34,083 females and 41 belonging to the third gender.

The constituency has 7,953 PwD and 157 VVIP voters. For the smooth conduct of elections, the authorities have established 1,749 polling stations at 1,387 locations in the Baramulla constituency. As many polling stations in the constituency fall close to the LoC, the authorities have kept ready a contingency plan in consultation with the election commission. Meanwhile, the JRL has called for a strike on Thursday and asked people to stay away from the polls.

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