J&K assembly elections 2024: Voting for phase 1 today across 24 seats; Iltija Mufti, Engineer Rashid among candidates to watch

Voting in the first phase of the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will take place today with ballots being cast in 24 of the state's 90 constituencies .

The first phase covers 16 seats in Kashmir and eight seats in Jammu region. Assembly elections are being held in the erstwhile state in three phases. The other two phases will be held on September 25 and October 1. The results will be announced on October 8. As many as 219 candidates are competing in the first phase of voting.

Polling will be held in four seats in Pulwama, two in Shopian, three in Kulgam, seven in Anantnag, three in Kishtwar, three in Doda, and two each in Ramban and Banihal. Eight of the constituencies are in Jammu and 16 in the Kashmir valley.

This is the first assembly poll being held in the erstwhile state in ten years. This is also the first assembly election being held in the Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. When Article 370 was abrogated, the state was also divided into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Statehood is a major issue in the elections and its restoration has been promised by the BJP, including by PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, as well as the Congress and the National Conference, which are contesting the polls in an alliance. Another major player is Mehbooba Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party.

Other parties include Abdul Ghani Lone's People's Conference, Ghulam Nabi Azad's Democratic Progressive Azad Party, and Altaf Bukhari's Apni Party.

Pulwama is one of the constituencies where the contest is being keenly watched. PDP youth leader Waheed ur Rehman Para, who is contesting his first election, is up against former party veteran Mohammad Khalil Band, who is now with the National Conference.

Para had campaigned for Band as a youth leader from the PDP in the 2008 and 2014 elections and is on bail in a case under the stringent anti-terror act, UAPA. Band, 73, is a three-time MLA. The seat is considered a PDP stronghold but the party faces an uphill battle this time, also because Talat Majeed, who is backed by the Jamaat, is contesting from there.

An interesting development is the entry in the elections of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, which is backing some candidates and parties such as Awami Ittehad Party of Engineer Rashid, who had scripted a spectacular upset with his victory over former chief minister Omar Abdullah in the Lok Sabha elections. PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija Mufti will contest her first Assembly election from the Srigufwara-Bijbehara constituency in South Kashmir after the former chief minister refused to enter the electoral fray.

Mufti, 37, is up against National Conference's Bashir Ahmad Shah and the BJP's Jammu and Kashmir Vice President Sofi Yousuf. Jammu and Kashmir has seen a spurt in terror incidents in recent months and three encounters took place last week in which two Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, were killed in action and at least five terrorists were shot dead.