Jammu and Kashmir is poised for the upcoming third and final phase of polling in the assembly election, with major political parties, particularly the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Congress, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), engaging in fierce exchanges over critical issues, including Pakistan, Article 370, terrorism and reservation to woo voters.
The electoral fate of 415 candidates, including former deputy chief ministers Tara Chand (Congress) and Muzaffar Hussain Beig, are at stake in this phase.
Key candidates in the final phase of polling
- Tara Chand, former deputy chief minister, Congress candidate from the Chhamb assembly constituency
- Muzaffar Hussain Baig, former deputy chief minister, an independent candidate from Baramulla
- Sajad Lone of the Peoples Conference
- Bashaarat Bukhari of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
- Choudhary Ramazan of the National Conference (NC)
- Congress leader Choudary Lal Singh
- Congress leader Usman Majeed
- BJP candidate Sham Lal Sharma
- BJP leader Devender Singh Rana
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 Assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
The voter turnout was robust in the earlier phases, with 61.38 per cent participation recorded in the first phase on September 18 and 57.31 per cent in the second phase on September 26.
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