SRINAGAR Election Commission of India on Thursday issued notification for the third phase of Lok Sabha polls in Kashmirs Anantnag Parliamentary constituency which is spanned in four south Kashmir districts and election being held in three phases.
Anantnag constituency has already made a record of being longest delayed bypoll since 1996.
The constituency was vacated by Mehbooba Mufti in June 2016 to become the chief minister following her father and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeeds death. No bypoll could be held for the constituency and it surpassed the record in Manipur in 1998-99 when the 60-Singhat legislative assembly constituency was vacant for over a year due to a poor law and order situation. The bypoll was not held in Anantnag even election to Panchayat elections was held.
The Anantnag by-polls were delayed twice in 2017, first time in April and then in May, after eight people were killed during election to bypoll for Srinagar.
According to ECI notification, the last date for filing of nominations for Anantnag is April 4, while scrutiny of nominations will be held on April 5. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 8. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conferences Justice (Retd) Hasnain Massodi would be main contestants in constituency where elections are held in three phases.
The election for the parliamentary constituency is scheduled on April 23 for Anantnag district, under
Phase -4 on April 29 for Kulgam district and under Phase -5 on May 6 for Shopian and Pulwama districts.
33 Candidates To Vie For 2 J&K Seats In First Phase Of Polls
Two independent candidates have withdrawn their nomination papers for Baramulla and Jammu-Poonch Lok Sahba seats, leaving thirty three candidates in fray for two constituencies scheduled to go for polls in first phase on April 11.
Returning Officer for Baramulla Parliamentary Constituency Dr G N Itoo informed that nine candidates for the constituency are in fray, the polling of which is scheduled in Phase Ist on April 11.
Those in fray now include Haji Farooq Ahamd Mir of INC, Mohammad Maqbool War of BJP, Jahangir Khan of J&KNPP, Abdul Qayoom Wani of J&KPDP, Mohammad Akbar Lone of J&KNC, Raja Aijaz Ali of J&KPC and Javid Ahmad Qureshi , Syed Najeeb Shah Naqvi and Engineer Rashid, all independents.
As many as 14 candidates had filled their nomination papers. 4 nominations were rejected during their scrutiny. One candidate Abdul Rasheed Shaheen (Independent) withdrew his nomination on the last date of withdrawal on Thursday.
The contesting candidates were allotted the election symbols by the Returning Officer in presence of General Election Observer Dr P Shakeel Ahmad. Representatives of various political parties were present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, one candidate of Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Kanta Andotra, who had filed her papers from Jammu- Poonch Parliamentary Constituency, withdrew her nomination at Returning Officers Office Jammu on Thursday. District Election Officer Ramesh Kumar accepted her withdrawal as candidate.
With her withdrawal, 24 candidates are left in fray for Jammu- Poonch Lok Sabha seat. The candidates left in the fray included Syed Aqib Hussain of Independent Peoples Party, Juggal Kishore of BJP, Badrinath of BSP, Mohammad Younis of JK Peer Panjal Awami Party, Susheel Kumar of Hindustan Nirman Dal, Javaid Ahmed of All India Forward Bloc, Raman Bhalla of INC, Gursagar Singh of Navarang Congress Party, Prof. Bhim Singh of JK National Panthers Party, Lal Singh of Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan and Rajiv Chunni, Subhash Chander, Shazbad Shabnam, Perseen Singh, Gulam Mustafa Chowdhary, Satish Poonchi, Bahadur, Manish Sahni, Sakander Ahmad Nourani, Tarsem Lal Khullar, Balwan Singh, Syed Zeshan Haider, Anil Singh, Ajay Kumar all Independents.
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