CM, four ministers among 138 candidates in fray for 3rd phase

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 8

Three districts in the Valley will be going to polls in the third phase of the ongoing Assembly elections in the state tomorrow.

The polling for 16 Assembly seats across Baramulla, Budgam and Pulwama districts will be held in the backdrop of the terror attacks on December 5, in which 21 people including eight terrorists were killed.

Considered one of the toughest phases of electioneering in the region as for as the security situation is concerned, the fate of incumbent Chief Minister and National Conference working president Omar Abdullah would also be sealed in the third phase. Omar is contesting from the Beerwah seat of central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

To ensure smooth voting, the authorities have made elaborate security arrangements, particularly in militancy-infested Baramulla and Pulwama districts.

“Joint efforts and surveillance is necessary to conduct the third phase of elections in a smooth manner and disrupting the anti-national activities of some bad elements,” Director General of Police K Rajendra Kumar said while reviewing the security arrangements for the third phase.

Apart from Beerwah, the focus would also be on the north Kashmir’s Uri constituency which witnessed a deadly fidayeen attack on Friday. In Uri, senior Congress leader and Minister for Health and Medical Education Taj Mohiuddin is seeking re-election for third time.

He is pitted against National Conference stalwart Mohammad Shafi Uri. Also in the fray is former top cop Raja Ajaz Ali, who is contesting on a PDP ticket.

The trend on the ground suggests high voter turnout in north Kashmir constituencies of Uri and Tangmarg and central Kashmir’s Beerwah, Rafiabad and Chrar-i-Sharief seats.

The sensitive and highly volatile Baramulla, Sopore, Pulwama and Tral constituencies on the other hand may witness lower turnouts following the boycott call by the separatists.

A total of 138 candidates in 16 Assembly segments across three poll-bound districts will try their luck in the third phase of elections. Their fate will be sealed by 13,69,102 voters. As many as 1,781 polling stations have been set up across Baramulla, Budgam and Pulwama districts for tomorrow’s polling.

Among the 16 poll-bound constituencies, the militancy infested Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district has the highest number of 15 candidates in the fray, while the Uri segment near the Line of Control has the lowest number of five candidates.

Baramulla district with seven Assembly segments also has the highest 73 contestants. In central Kashmir’s Budgam district a total of 34 candidates are in the fray, while in Pulwama district 31 contestants are in the poll battle.