Srinagar. Voting has started at 7 am on Wednesday for 26 assembly seats in six districts of Jammu and Kashmir. 239 candidates are in the fray. Queues of voters are being seen at the polling booths since morning. People are enthusiastic about voting. There is a festive atmosphere at most of the polling stations in six districts of the Union Territory, including Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi of Jammu division and Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal of the valley. Local police and security forces were seen sharing smiles with voters coming to the polling stations. A total of 25.78 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir elections. Voting started at 7 am on Wednesday and will end at 6 pm. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appealing to the voters of Jammu and Kashmir to vote, said in a post on social media platform X that today is the second phase of voting for the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
My appeal to all voters is that they must cast their vote and play their important role in strengthening democracy. On this occasion, my greetings to all the young colleagues who are going to vote for the first time! Let us tell you that senior politicians including former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra, Jammu and Kashmir BJP President Ravinder Raina, former ministers Ali Mohammad Sagar, Asiya Naqash, Abdul Rahim Rather, Hakeem Mohammad Yasin, Chaudhary Zulfikar and Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party chief Syed Altaf Bukhari are in the electoral fray in the second phase. NC and Congress have formed a pre-poll alliance. NC has fielded candidates on 52 seats while Congress is contesting on 31 seats. Voting for the third and final phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections will be held on October 1 and counting of votes will be held on October 8.