The Kashmir Pulse

SRINAGAR — With the J&K Assembly elections around the corner, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has prohibited the use of children for election-related activities in southern Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

As per the news agency CNS, the ECI has said that the directive is aimed at preventing child labour and exploitation in line with the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 1986.

Giving a stern warning, ECI said that the political candidates and parties should refrain from getting children involved in any campaign activities, including rallies, chanting, and distribution of posters.

To check compliance with the given directive, the Commission has said that it will monitor adherence to these regulations closely and take legal action against any violations.

SRINAGAR — The Election Commission of India on Saturday rescheduled the date of counting for Jammu and Kashmir polls following a change in the date of polling for Haryana to October 5.

According to an order, a copy of which lies with news agency KNO, the poll body rescheduled the date of counting from October 4 to October 8.

The decision has been taken after several representations were received by the poll body to reschedule the election in Haryana, which was due to be held on October 1.

Now, Assembly election in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the counting of votes for Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana will now take place on October 8, the poll body said.

SRINAGAR — A day after the approval from the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the posting of four police officers as district police chiefs, the officers assumed the charges at designated places on Saturday.

According to the news agency KNO, customary handing over of charges took place between the outgoing SSPs and SP and incoming officers.

Soon after taking over charge as the district chiefs, the top officers chaired introductory meetings with the officers in their respective police districts at their office chambers.

In Baramulla, the incoming SSP Mohammad Zaid, who was accompanied by the outgoing officer SSP Gurinderpal Singh, was received by the SP Operations Feroz Yehya, SP Headquarters Syed Yasir Qadri besides others.

The event was followed by the handing over of the charges.

In Kupwara, the outgoing SSP, Shobhit Saxena, along with senior police officers of the district, extended a warm welcome to the incoming officer Ghulam Jeelani Wani at the District Police Headquarters. The officer was honoured with a ceremonial guard of honour.

Similarly, in Handwara, the outgoing SP Dawood Ayoub and incoming SP Mir Ifroz were received by SP Operations Handwara Zaffar Iqbal, SDPO Hamid Ali and others, which was followed by the handing over of the charges.

Earlier on Friday, the ECI approved the posting of Mohammad Zaid as SSP, Baramulla, Ghulam Jeelani Wani as SSP Kupwara, Ifroz Ahmad as SP Handwara and Imtiyaz Hussain Mir as SSP Srinagar.

SRINAGAR — The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday issued an election notification for the second phase of the General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.

26 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in the districts of Ganderbal, Srinagar, Budgam, Reasi, Rajouri and Poonch shall go to polls in the second phase.

In Kashmir Division, 15 Assembly constituencies comprising 17-Kangan (ST); 18-Ganderbal; 19-Hazratbal; 20-Khanyar; 21-Habbakadal; 22-Lal Chowk; 23-Channapora; 24-Zadibal; 25-Eidgah; 26-Central Shalteng; 27-Budgam; 28-Beerwah; 29-Khansahib; 30-Chrar-i-Sharief; 31-Chadoora are scheduled to go to polls.

In Jammu Division, 11 Assembly constituencies comprising 56-Gulabgarh (ST); 57-Reasi; 58-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi; 83-Kalakote-Sunderbani; 84-Nowshera; 85-Rajouri (ST); 86-Budhal (ST); 87-Thannamandi (ST); 88-Surankote (ST); 89-Poonch-Haveli and 90-Mehdhar (ST) are scheduled to go to polls in the second phase of the electoral process.

As per the notification, the last date for filing nominations is September 5, 2024 (Thursday). Scrutiny of the nomination papers shall take place on September 6, 2024 (Friday) and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is September 9, 2024 (Monday).

The polling day for these Assembly constituencies is scheduled for September 25, 2024 (Wednesday) and the polling will be conducted from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, the notification reads.

SRINAGAR — The Election Commission of India on Wednesday approved the appointment of senior IPS officer Nalin Prabhat as Director General (Operations and Security) till September 30 and shifting of four district police chiefs.

Sources quoted by the news agency KNO said that the poll-body today approved the appointment of Nalin Prabhat (IPS) as DG (Operations & Security), J&K Police till September 30.

Prabhat, who was recently brought to AGMUT cadre, would take over as police chief of J&K on September 30 when RR Swain would complete his innings.

They disclosed that the poll-body has also approved extension of inter-cadre deputation tenure of Syeed Fakhrudin Hamid, DC Anantnag, for two years.

The Commission has also approved the proposal of relieving of Ashish Mishra, SSP Srinagar and transfer of SSP Baramulla Gurinderpal Singh, SP Handwara Dawood Ayoub and SSP Kupwara Shobhit Saxena.

The Commission has directed J&K administration to provide a panel of IPS officers for the post of SP/SSP Srinagar, Baramulla, Handwara and Kupwara by 5 pm tomorrow.

SRINAGAR — The Election Commission of India (ECI) has officially commenced the process of organizing Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to a press statement from Jaydeb Lahiri, Secretary of the ECI, "The commission has decided to accept applications seeking allotment of the common symbol under Para 10B of election symbols (Reservation & Allotment) order 1968 for the General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir with immediate effect."

This development follows a statement by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, who mentioned that the people of J&K would soon have their democratically elected government in the Union Territory.

The last Assembly election in J&K was held in 2014, resulting in a coalition government formed by the BJP and the PDP, led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. After Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's death in 2016, his daughter Mehbooba Mufti took over as the head of the coalition. The coalition ended on June 18, 2019, when the BJP withdrew its support, prompting Mehbooba Mufti to resign as Chief Minister.

In December last year, the Supreme Court had directed the poll body to hold Assembly polls in the UT by September 30, 2024.

In March, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said that the Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after the Lok Sabha polls as organising both simultaneously is not viable from the security point of view.

Recently, after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections in J&K, the Elections Commission extended special thanks to the people of Jammu and Kashmir for their faith in the electoral process. CEC Kumar also said the Assembly elections in J&K will be held soon. "Voter turnout in the state is the highest in the last four decades," he said.

SRINAGAR — In a decisive electoral mandate, the deposits of nearly 90 per cent of candidates contesting for the five Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir were confiscated. According to Election Commission data, 89 out of 100 candidates failed to secure one-sixth of the votes polled in their respective constituencies, leading to the forfeiture of their deposits.

The voters in the Union Territory, as per the news agency KNO, delivered a clear verdict in favour of the winners in all but one constituency.

Notably, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, an independent candidate who emerged victorious in the Baramulla seat, defeated high-profile politicians such as former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and People's Conference President Sajjad Gani Lone. Rashid secured 45.70 per cent of the votes, making Baramulla the only constituency where the winning candidate received less than 50 per cent of the total votes.

Baramulla was also the only constituency where the third-placed candidate, Sajjad Gani Lone, managed to save his deposit by securing 16.76 per cent of the votes, just above the 16.34 per cent threshold required.

In other constituencies, National Conference leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi achieved the highest vote share with 52.85 per cent.

BJP's Jugal Kishore, who won the Jammu seat for the third consecutive time, received 52.80 per cent of the votes. Union Minister and BJP leader Jitendra Singh, who also secured a third consecutive victory in Udhampur, garnered 51.28 per cent of the votes.

Meanwhile, NC's Mian Altaf Ahmed defeated former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat with 50.85 per cent of the votes.

The elections were particularly disappointing for Ghulam Nabi Azad's Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), whose all three candidates forfeited their deposits. None of the DPAP candidates managed to secure even four per cent of the votes.

Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, contesting from Udhampur, received 3.56 per cent, Mohammad Salim Parre from Anantnag-Rajouri got 2.49 per cent, and Aamir Bhat from Srinagar secured 2.24 per cent.

Among the seven women candidates in the fray, only PDP President Mehbooba Mufti succeeded in saving her deposit.

SRINAGAR — Two former chief ministers of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir — Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — are trailing in their constituencies in the first hour of counting on Tuesday, according to the Election Commission.

Abdullah contested the polls from the Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency, while Mehbooba from the Anantnag-Rajouri seat.

Abdullah, the vice president of the National Conference (NC), is trailing by over 2,600 votes in the first hour of counting against his nearest rival and independent candidate Sheikh Abdul Rashid.

The NC leader is locked in a virtual triangular contest for the Baramulla Lok Sabha seat with separatist-turned-mainstream politician Sajjad Gani Lone and Rashid alias Engineer Rashid, a former MLA currently lodged in Tihar jail in a UAPA case.

Mehbooba, the president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who is up against prominent Gujjar and NC leader Mian Altaf Ahmad in Anantnag-Rajouri seat, is trailing by over 26,000 votes.

On the third seat in the Kashmir valley — the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency — NC’s Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi is leading over his nearest rival, PDP’s Waheed Para — by over 3,300 votes.

SRINAGAR — Finally the big day has arrived as the counting of votes has started today (Tuesday) for the five crucial Lok Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir amid multi-layer security cover.

The Election Commission has established 10 counting centres for the five Lok Sabha seats in J&K with one of these centres set up in Delhi to count the votes of Kashmiri migrants living outside Kashmir. The counting of votes for five J&K LS seats has begun simultaneously with the rest of the country.

Early results for Ladakh and Udhampur

As per the local news agency KNO, among the six Lok Sabha seats of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh, the results for Udhampur and Ladakh are expected first. The results for the remaining four seats—Jammu, Anantnag-Rajouri, Srinagar, and Baramulla—will take longer due to the high number of candidates, which has necessitated the use of two EVMs for each seat.

Key candidates await results

The fate of over 100 candidates, including prominent figures like Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, will be decided on June 4.

Other notable candidates include former minister Chaudhary Lal Singh, MP Jugal Kishore Sharma, Congress working president Raman Bhalla, veteran NC leaders Mian Altaf and Ruhullah Mehdi, Apni Party's Zafar Iqbal Manhas and Mohammad Ashraf Mir, People's Conference chief Sajjad Gani Lone, and Awami Ittehad Party chief Engineer Rashid.

In Ladakh, the results will determine the fate of BJP's Tashi Gyalsan, Congress's T Namgyal, and independent Haji Hanifa Jaan.

Security and preparations for counting

Section 144 has been imposed outside the counting centers, which will remain in effect until June 5. The district administration has issued I-cards to personnel on counting duty, and around 1,000 agents have been given access cards. Approximately 2,000 to 2,500 personnel have been deployed for vote counting.

A meeting was held between District Deputy Commissioner Sachin Kumar and the election candidates and their agents to ensure smooth vote counting as the counting will be held at SKICC Srinagar.

For Baramulla seat, the counting is being held in Degree College Baramulla. On the other hand, the counting of votes for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat is being held in Degree College Anantnag.

For Jammu parliamentary seat, the vote counting is taking place at MAM College Jammu and Polytechnic Vikram Chowk.

Talking to reporters in Jammu on Saturday, Director General of Police (DGP) RR Swain had said that each counting centre is under the 24x7 surveillance of the CCTVs while there are at least two companies of security forces deployed for securing the counting centre.

The DGP had stated that there will be multi-layer security cover at every counting centre.

Strategies by political parties

Political parties, particularly BJP and Congress, have strategized with their booth agents for the vote counting on Tuesday. Agents were expected to report at 6:00 am, accompanied by a large number of supporters outside.

Security at the strong room

A tight security cordon surrounds the strong room at Polytechnic College Jammu, where the vote counting for the Jammu parliamentary seat is taking place. Police officers are personally monitoring the strong room, with extensive security measures implemented within a 200-meter radius of the counting center.

Exit Poll predictions

Exit polls indicate that the BJP is likely to secure two seats in Udhampur and Jammu, while NC is projected to win three seats in Anantnag, Srinagar, and Baramulla. All parties have finalized their preparations for vote counting, and agents have been briefed on necessary protocols.