Polling in Jammu, Baramulla today

Jammu and Baramulla Lok Sabha constituencies will go to the polls on Thursday in the first phase of the general election amid calls of boycott issued by separatists as well as militant groups in the Valley.

While militant groups warned people against participating in the election, the joint Hurriyat leadership also called for a shutdown in the areas going to the polls. In these two constituencies, more than 3.3 million people are to choose their parliamentary representatives from among 33 candidates.

In Jammu, where 24 candidates are in the fray, the fight is mainly between the BJP’s Jugal Kishore and the Congress’ Raman Bhalla as the regional parties, National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), decided not to field their candidates to consolidate the “secular vote” against BJP. The Jammu constituency is spread over 20 assembly segments of four districts. The administration has set up 4,489 polling stations in the two constituencies. The regional parties are banking on their promise of safeguarding special status of the state, while the BJP has vowed to abrogate special status. BJP’s former allies in the state, PDP and People’s Conference, have also frequently spoken against its position on the constitutional status of the state.


In Baramulla, there are nine candidates in the fray and the contest is mainly between Akbar Lone of NC, Raja Aijaz Ali of People’s Conference and Engineer Rashid.