20K Polling Staff mobilised for last phase

JAMMU, Sept 30: Over 20,000 polling staff have been mobilised Monday across seven districts of  Jammu and Kashmir on the eve of third and final phase of assembly elections which will decide the electoral fate of 415 candidates including two former deputy chief ministers Tara Chand and Muzaffar Beig, officials said.

The highlight of the voting will be participation of west Pakistani refugees, Valmiki Samaj and Gorkha community who got the voting rights in assembly, urban local bodies and panchayat elections only after the abrogation of Article 370. They have earlier voted in panchayat and urban local bodies polls in 2018.

Over 39.18 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise at 5,060 polling stations in this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments in Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir, on October 1.

Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu zone, Anand Jain, said adequate security arrangements have been put in place in the poll-bound areas to ensure “terror-free and peaceful” polling.

Amid tight security arrangements, thousands of election staff along with poll material left their respective district headquarters this morning to take positions at their designated polling stations by this evening.