Omar Abdullah, Ravinder Raina, Mehbooba Mufti, Altaf Bukhari
The noise of campaigning on 26 seats of the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections ended on Monday evening. In the second phase, 26 seats in six districts go to polls on Wednesday, for which the fate of 239 candidates is at stake. Out of 26 seats in this phase, 15 seats are from central Kashmir and 11 seats are from Jammu region. While this is a litmus test for the PDP to maintain its political survival, the onus rests on this stage to return the National Conference and Congress alliance to power. Will Engineer Rashid and Jamaat-e-Islami also be tested?
239 candidates are in the fray for the 26 seats in the second phase of Jammu and Kashmir, with 233 men and 6 women trying their luck. 25.78 lakh voters will vote in this phase. Several high-profile leaders including former chief minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah, BJP state president Ravinder Raina, AAP party chief Altaf Bukhari and Khurshid Alam are slated to be examined in this phase.
Voting will be held in the second phase
Out of the 26 seats in the second phase, 15 seats are from central Kashmir and 11 seats are from Jammu region. Kashmir division includes Kangan, Ganderbal, Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Channapora, Jadibal, Idgah, Central Shalteng, Budgam, Birwah, Khansahab, Charar-e-Sharif and Chadoora seats. Meanwhile, Gulabgarh, Reasi, Sri Mata Vaishno Devi, Kalakot-Sundarbani, Nowshera, Rajouri, Budhal, Thannamandi, Surankot, Poonch-Haveli and Mendhar constituencies of Jammu division are going to polls on Wednesday.
What is at stake?
239 candidates are in fray for 26 seats in Jammu and Kashmir. PDP has fielded its candidates on all 26 seats. National Conference has candidates on 20 seats and Congress on 6 seats. BJP is contesting on only 17 seats in the second phase. Independents have won 98 seats. 20 candidates are contesting in Reasi of Jammu region, 34 candidates are contesting in Rajouri district and 25 candidates are trying their luck in Poonch district. Along with this Srinagar district of Kashmir Valley has the highest number of 93 candidates, Budgam district has 46 candidates and Ganderbal has 21 candidates.
The National Conference has a strong political base on seats in the Kashmir region, while the BJP and the Congress have a strong political base in the Jammu region. In the 2014 assembly elections, out of 15 seats in South Kashmir, 7 seats were won by National Conference, 4 seats by PDP, two seats by Congress, one seat by BJP and one seat by others. Out of 11 seats in Jammu region, BJP won 8 seats, Congress won one and others won the rest. In this way, the challenge will be to retain the seats won in the second phase against the BJP and the National Conference.
Contest between whom on which seat?
The credibility of National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah, who lost the Baramulla seat to independent engineer Rashid in the Lok Sabha elections, is at stake. This time Omar Abdullah is contesting from both Ganderbal and Budgam seats. Even after this, their path is not easy. This time in Budgam, Omar is expected to face a close encounter with PDP candidate Syed Muntajir Mehndi, who belongs to the Shia community, while in the Ganderbal seat, a close encounter is expected with Engineer Rasheed’s party candidate. Jailed surgeon Ahmed Wage alias Azadi Chacha is contesting from Ganderbal seat against him. The Chenpora seat is contested between JKAP’s Altaf Bukhari and NC’s Mushtaq Guru.
The main contest for the Kangan (ST) seat is between NC’s Mian Mehr Ali and PDP’s Syed Jamat Ali Shah. NC’s Salman Sagar and PDP’s Asia Nakash are facing each other in the Hazratbal seat. Khanyar seat is contested between NC’s Ali Mohammad Sagar and PDP’s Tafjul Mushtaq. NC’s Shamim Firdaus Habba is contesting the Kadal seat against PDP’s Arif Irshad Lagroo. In Lal Chowk, a three-way contest is being considered between Sheikh Ahsan Ahmed of NC, Mohammad Ashraf Mir of Jammu and Kashmir Up Party (JKAP) and Ejaz Hussain Rather of BJP.
Triangular contest over edible seat
NC’s Tanveer Sadiq is contesting against JKPC’s Abid Hussain Ansari on Jadibal seat. The fight between NC’s Mubarak Gul on the Idgah seat is being considered a three-way contest between PDP’s Khurshid Alam and independent candidate Faheem Reshi. Congress’s Tariq Hameed Kara is expected to contest the Central Shalteng seat against independent candidate Mohammad Irfan Shah. A tough fight is expected between NC’s Farooq Ahmed Ganai and independent candidate Sarjan Ahmed Wage in Beerwah seat.
Who is facing which seat?
The main contest in Khansaheb is between NC’s Saifuddin Bhat and JK PDF’s Hakeem Mohammad Yasin. NC’s Abdul Rahim Rather is contesting against PDP’s Ghulam Nabi Lone in Charar-e-Sharif. NC’s Ali Mohammad Dar is contesting against PDP’s Mohammad Yasin Bhat in Chadoora. NC’s Khurshid Ahmed is contesting against PDP’s Mohammad Farooq in Gulabgarh (ST) seat. On the Riasi seat, there is a direct contest between Mumtaz Ahmed of Congress and Kuldeep Raj Dubey of BJP. Baldev Raj Sharma of BJP and Bhupinder Singh of Congress are in direct contest on Sri Mata Vaishnodevi assembly seat. NC’s Yashuvardhan Singh is contesting against BJP’s Randhir Singh in Kalakot-Sundarbani.
Surinder Kumar will give competition to Ravinder Raina
Nowshera seat BJP’s Ravinder Raina is contesting against NC’s Surinder Kumar Chaudhary. BJP’s Vibod Kumar is contesting against Congress’s Iftakar Ahmed on the Rajouri (ST) seat. On Budhal (ST) there is a contest between Chaudhary Zulfkar Ali of BJP and Javed Iqbal of NC. Congress’ Mohammad Shabbir Khan is contesting against PDP’s Qamar Hussain on Thanamandi (ST). Surankot (ST) is believed to be a contest between Congress’s Mohammad Shahnawaz and BJP’s Mushtaq Ahmed Shah Bukhari. Poonch Haveli seat is contested between NC’s Ejaz Ahmed Jan and PDP’s Shamim Ahmed. NC’s Javed Ahmed Rana is contesting against PDP’s Nadeem Ahmed Khan on Mendhar seat.
PDP, NC, Congress and BJP
A lot has changed in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which are being held after ten years. 11 constituencies in Jammu region where elections have been held have seen a demographic change. In the Jammu region seats, the main fight is considered to be between the Congress and the BJP, while in the Valley seats, the main fight is between parties like National Conference, Congress and PDP, but also the parties of Engineer Rashid and Altaf Bukhari. important roles. A large Muslim population is a tension for the BJP and a challenge for the PDP to maintain its credibility.
In the second phase, the National Conference and Congress alliance may have an upper hand. Omar Abdullah will have to secure his victory especially in the seats of Kashmir region with a lead. The challenge for the BJP is to retain the seats it won in the Jammu region, as it is difficult for the party to win seats in the Kashmir region. Nowshera seat in Jammu is a fierce battle between BJP and National Conference candidates.
Small parties can spoil the game
In the second phase, Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party and Altaf Bukhari’s own party are also facing a litmus test. Many leaders of these three parties can spoil the game of parties like PDP and National Conference in many seats in Kashmir. Altaf Bukhari is also contesting his seat. Apart from this, one or two independent candidates are also seen contesting the elections vigorously. In such a situation, it remains to be seen who will prevail in the second phase and whether the smaller parties will be able to make a big splash?
