Voting for the fourth phase on 18 seats in Jammu and Kashmir and 15 seats in Jharkhand began on Sunday morning, amid tight security.
The penultimate round of the five-phased polls in Jammu and Kashmir will seal the fate of 182 candidates including two chief ministerial aspirants and Speaker of the assembly.
Over 14.73 lakh voters including 7.05 lakh females are eligible to exercise their franchise at 1,
890 polling stations in four districts of the state – Srinagar, Anantnag, Shopian (Kashmir Valley) and Samba (Jammu region).
All eyes will be on the eight constituencies of Srinagar– currently being represented by the National Conference (NC)– as the voter turnout has generally remained low in the district along with some parts of Anantnag and Shopian. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is contesting from Sonwar Assembly segment of Srinagar after he chose not to contest from his family stronghold of Ganderbal constituency. Omar was also in fray from Beerwah seat, in central Kashmir's Budgam district, which went to polls in the third phase.
In Jharkhand with former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and three incumbent ministers testing their luck. A total of 43,48,709 voters are eligible to decide the fate of 217 candidates, including 16 women.
Marandi, whose fate has already been sealed in the third of the five-phase polling from Dhanwar, is among the 13 candidates in the fray from the Giridih seat this time. Adequate security arrangements have been made in all the 15 constituencies with many being Maoist-hit. peacefully.
23:09 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
Jammu and Kashmir polls: Residents of border hamlets say ballot their reply to Pakistan's bullets
Shattered and forced to leave their homes due to repeated ceasefire violations from across the LoC, residents of villages in the border district who came out in large numbers to cast their votes on Sunday said they have answered the Pakistani bullets with their ballots.
"The ballot is our reply to the Pakistani bullet," Pawan Kumar, a resident of Ramgarh village of Samba district, said. The voters here who came out in large numbers to vote in today's fourth phase of the ongoing Assembly election said that their vote was an answer to Pakistan. "We came out in large numbers to vote and send Pakistan a message that we are not scared of their bullets," Rajkumar, another resident of Ramgarh village, said.
The two Assembly seats of Samba district where polling was held on Sunday recorded a poll percentage of 79.16% with Samba at 77% and Vijaypur at 81.31%. The residents of hundred of villages along the International Border on the Indian side are forced to leave their homes and cattle every time the Pakistani side resorts to ceasefire violation and fires on the Indian side. Read More
20:07 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
Jammu and Kashmir polls: Braving chilly weather and terror threat 49% polling in 4th phase
Defying separatists' boycott call and chilly weather, voters came out in good numbers on Sunday to record a 49% turnout in the fourth and penultimate phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections that involved 18 seats.
The polling in the four districts--Srinagar, Anantnag, Shopian(all in Valley) and Samba(Jammu region) was four% higher than that in the 2008 Assembly elections but it was lower compared to the average 71% in the first two phases and 59% in the third phase. Although the polling was by and large peaceful in all the districts, several incidents of clashes between supporters of rival political parties and alleged high handedness by two BJP candidates--Javed Ahmad Qadri(Shopian) and Hina Bhat (Amirakadal) were reported in the Valley.
"An estimated 49% of over 14.73 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the penultimate phase of the five-phased assembly elections," Chief Electoral Officer Umang Narula told reporters here. The 18 assembly segments had recorded 45% polling in the 2008 Assembly polls and 29% in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year, he said. Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi told reporters in Delhi that barring a few stray incidents, polling in the state was peaceful. A FIR has been lodged after an election agent of an Independent alleged that he was manhandled by a BJP candidate in Shopian district, he said. Read More
19:53 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
Polling in 15 constituencies of the state ended on Sunday with 61.08% electorate exercising their franchise in the penultimate phase of the Assembly elections in Jharkhand as the day passed off peacefully.
The polling, which began at 7 AM in all the seats, ended at 3 PM in 13 constituencies while it concluded at 5 PM in Dhanbad and Bokaro, Election Commission office sources said here. The 13 other seats which went for polling in this round were Madhupur, Deogarh (SC), Bagodar, Jamua (SC), Gandey, Giridih, Dumri, Chandankyari (SC), Sindri, Nirsa, Jharia, Tundi and Baghmara.
17:23 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
Ignoring the boycott call given by separatists and braving cold weather, over 37% of 14.73 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 2 PM in the penultimate phase of Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. Barring minor clashes between supporters of rival parties at a dozen places, polling in all the 18 constituencies spread over three districts of Kashmir, including summer capital Srinagar, and one district in Jammu region was by and large peaceful.
An estimated 37.46% of electorate cast their ballot in the 18 constituencies spread over Srinagar and south Kashmir districts of Anantnag and Shopian and Samba district in Jammu region till 2 PM, an official spokesman said. He said Vijaypur constituency in Samba district recorded the highest turnout of 63.44% in the first six hours, while Habbakadal constituency in Srinagar witnessed the lowest 13.44% during the corresponding period.
Despite severe cold, long queues of voters were seen outside the polling stations to exercise their franchise at many polling stations. The trends in voter turnout in eight constituencies of Srinagar city, which have witnessed low voter turnout in the past elections due to separatist boycott calls, pointed towards a higher poll percentage this time. Read More
16:21 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
Nearly 49% turnout, polling peaceful in Jharkhand
A 48.56% turn out has been registered till 1.00 pm in 15 seats in Jharkhand where polling is underway in the fourth round on Sunday. Elections are going on smoothly and peacefully, poll officials said. Giridih, the second seat from where former Chief Minister and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) president Babulal Marandi is contesting, recorded 47.49 % polling, the officials said. He also contested from Dhanwar, where polling was held in the third phase on Deecember 9. The JVM is contesting in 14 seats. Read more
14:47 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
Incident-free polling in Jharkhand, about 30% polling till 11 am
Over 30% turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling in 15 Assembly constituencies of Jharkhand where the penultimate round of the five-phase elections is going on peacefully. Read more
13:46 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
BJP candidate thrashes voter inside polling station in Jammu and Kashmir
BJP candidate from Shopian constituency Javed Ahmad Qadri today allegedly thrashed a voter inside a polling station, claiming that the latter had entered the booth without a voter slip. Qadri thrashed an unidentified man in presence of the polling staff inside the polling station at Moochwad in south Kashmir Shopian district where polling is underway. Speaking about the incident, Qadri accused the PDP and NC workers of committing malpractices in the elections. Read more
12:22 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
Nearly 10% of the voters cast their votes in the first two hours of polling in the fourth phase of elections for 18 seats in Jammu and Kashmir today.
"The overall polling percentage till 10 am for the 16 constituencies of Kashmir Valley is around 10%, while over 13% electorate exercised their franchise in Samba and Vijaypur constituencies of Jammu region," the officials said.
They said the turnout in Samba was 13.56% while in Vijaypur, it was 12.71%.
Despite severe cold, people were seen going towards the polling booths and long queues of voters were seen outside the polling stations to exercise their franchise, the officials said.
The trends in voter turnout in eight constituencies of Srinagar city, which have witnessed low voter turnout in the past elections due to separatist boycott calls, pointed towards a higher poll percentage this time.
11:00 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
13.5% voting recorded till 9.00 am in Jharkhand
Approximately 13.5% voting has been recorded till 9 a.m. in Jharkhand during the ongoing polling for the fourth phase of assembly elections on Sunday. Read more
8:30 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi people to vote in large numbers
7:55 IST Sunday, 14 December 2014
Jammu and Kashmir
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) patron and party chief ministerial candidate Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is seeking re-election from Anantnag constituency in south Kashmir.
Depending on the eventual party positions in terms of seats won, either Omar or Sayeed is likely to be the front-runner for the chief minister's post.
Other prominent candidates who are in fray include J&K Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul, Omar's close confidante Nasir Aslam Wani, Congress ministers Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed and Ghulam Ahmad Mir, and PDP's Abdul Rehman Veeri and Altaf Bukhari.
The campaign in the four districts was by and large peaceful but militants hurled a grenade at a police station in Anantnag town on Thursday, resulting in injuries to three policemen.
Jharkhand
Jharkhand Disaster Management Minister Mannan Mallick (Congress-Dhanbad), Tourism Minister Suresh Paswan (RJD-Deogarh) and Building Construction Minister Haji Hussain Ansari (JMM-Madhupur) are in the field, besides 11 MLAs seeking re-election.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Bahujan Samaj Party have fielded the maximum of 14 candidates each followed by the Jharkhand Vikas Party (Prajatantrik-13 candidates), CPI (three) CPI (M) and NCP in two seats each.
The fourth phase seats include Madhupur, Deogarh (SC), Bagodar, Jamua (SC), Gandey, Giridih, Dumri, Bokaro, Chandankyari (SC), Sindri, Nirsa, Dhanbad, Jharia, Tundi and Baghmara but there is no separate seat for tribals.
With 28 candidates, Bokaro has the maximum number of contestants while Jamua, Chandankyari and Tundi have the minimum of ten candidates each.
(With agency inputs)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}