NEW DELHI: The stage is set for the final results of the assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and the state of Haryana, scheduled for October 8, Tuesday. This election is particularly significant as it represents the first in a decade and the first since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 in the valley of J&K.
Jammu Kashmir assembly election
The 90-member assembly held elections in three phases: the first on September 18, followed by Phase 2 on September 25, and Phase 3 on October 1.
Jammu Kashmir assembly election constituency
Constituencies voting in Phase 1: The first phase of elections were held in Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, Pahalgam, Inderwal, Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Bhadarwah, Doda, Doda West, Ramban and Banihal
Constituencies voting in Phase 2: The second phase of elections in Jammu and Kashmir took place across 26 constituencies with over 13,000 polling personnel deployed at 3,500 stations, across the six districts of Rajouri, Poonch, and Reasi, Srinagar, Ganderbal, and Budgam.
The 26 constituencies are: Kangan (ST), Ganderbal, Hazratbal, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Lal Chowk, Channapora, Zadibal, Eidgah, Central Shalteng, Budgam, Beerwah, Khansahib, Chrar-i-Sharief, Chadoora, Gulabgarh (ST), Reasi, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Kalakote-Sunderbani, Nowshera, Rajouri (ST), Budhal (ST), Thannamandi (ST), Surankote (ST), Poonch Haveli, and Mendhar (ST).
Constituencies voting in Phase 3: Voting was done in 40 Assembly constituencies, with 24 located in the Jammu region and 16 in the Kashmir valley.
The Jammu division, Jammu district include Bishnah-SC, Suchetgarh-SC, R S Pura, Jammu South, Bahu, Jammu East, Nagrota, Jammu West, Jammu North, Akhnoor-SC and Chhamb. Kathua district follows with six seats, namely Bani, Billawar, Basohli, Jasrota, Kathua-SC and Hiranagar. Udhampur district has four constituencies, including Udhampur West, Udhampur East, Chenni and Ramnagar-SC, while Samba district has three seats: Ramgarh-SC, Samba and Vijaypur.
The Kashmir division, Kupwara district include 16 assembly constituencies, which are “Karnah, Tregham, Kupwara, Lolab, Handwara and Langate.” Baramulla district includes Sopore, Rafiabad, Uri, Baramulla, Gulmarg, Wagoora-Kreeri and Pattan,while Bandipora district consists of Sonawari, Bandipora, Gurez (ST).
Jammu Kashmir assembly election major parties
The National Conference and the Congress have formed an alliance, while the People’s Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are the other major contenders.
High-profile leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and former J&K chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abudullah, and Mehbooba Mufti, have been actively campaigning on the ground for weeks, underscoring the importance of this election.
Jammu Kashmir assembly election candidates
1st phase: Key candidates
The prominent candidates in the first phase includes Iltija Mufti (PDP) – Bijbehara-Srigufwara, Waheed Para (PDP ) – Pulwama, Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami (CPIM) – Kulgam, Khalid Najib Suharwady (National Conference) – Doda, Shagun Parihar (BJP) – Kishtwar and Vikar Rasool Wani (Congress) – Banihal.
2nd phase: Key candidates
Among the prominent candidates in the second phase are former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah, who is contesting from both the Budgam and Ganderbal seats. Additionally, Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina is running for the Nowshera assembly seat, while Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hamid Karra is contesting from the Central-Shalteng seat.
3rd phase: Key candidates
In the third phase, notable candidates include former ministers such as Raman Bhalla (R S Pura), Usman Majid (Bandipora), Nazir Ahmad Khan (Gurez), Taj Mohiuddin (Uri), Basharat Bukhari (Wagoora-Kreeri), Imran Ansari (Pattan), Ghulam Hassan Mir (Gulmarg), Choudhary Lal Singh (Basohli), Rajiv Jasrotia (Jasrota), Manohar Lal Sharma (Billawar), Sham Lal Sharma and Ajay Kumar Sadhotra (Jammu North), Mula Ram (Marh), Chander Prakash Ganga, and Manjit Singh (Vijapur).
J&K assembly elections voter turnout
The Valley of Jammu and Kashmir recorded an overall voter turnout of 63.88 percent in the Assembly elections, with male turnout at 64.88 percent compared to female turnout at 63.04 percent.
The Election Commission reported a voter turnout of 69.69 percent in the third phase, held on October 1. In the first and second phases, the polling percentages were 61.38 percent and 57.31 percent, respectively. Notably, Phase 3 also saw a slightly higher female voter turnout of 70.02 percent, surpassing the male turnout of 69.37 percent.
What Exit poll predicted
Exit polls for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election have predicted that the Congress-National Conference alliance may win around 43 seats, 3 short of the majority, while the BJP may win 27 seats, PDP 7 and others 13.
Dainik Bhaskar: BJP 20-25, Congress +NC 35-40, PDP 4-7, Others 12-18
C-Voter: BJP 27-32, Congress +NC 40-48, PDP 6-12, Others 6-11
People Pulse: BJP 22-27, Congress +NC 46-50, PDP 7-11, Others 4-6
Axis My India: BJP 24-34, Congress +NC 35-45, PDP 4-6, Others 9-23
Haryana assembly elections
Haryana went to the polls on October 5, 2024, with over 2 crore eligible voters, across all 90 constituencies, with 20,629 established polling booths. Haryana polls were earlier scheduled for October 1 but later postponed by the Election Commission.
Haryana assembly elections key constituencies
The state has 90 assembly seats including Kalka, Panchkula, Naraingarh, Ambala Cantt, Ambala City, Mulana (SC), Sadhaura (SC), Jagadhri, Yamunanagar, Radaur, Ladwa, Shahbad (SC), Thanesar, Pehowa, Guhla (SC), Kalayat, Kaithal, Pundri, Nilokheri (SC), Indri, Karnal, Gharaunda, Assandh, Panipat Rural, Panipat City, Israna (SC), Samalkha, Ganaur, Rai, Kharkhauda (SC), Sonipat, Gohana, Baroda, Julana, Safidon, Jind, Uchana Kalan, Narwana (SC), Tohana, Fatehabad, Ratia (SC), Kalanwali (SC), Dabwali, Rania, Sirsa, Ellenabad, Adampur, Uklana (SC), Narnaund, Hansi, Barwala, Hisar, Nalwa, Loharu, Badhra, Dadri, Bhiwani, Tosham, Bawani Khera (SC), Meham, Garhi Sampla-Kiloi, Rohtak, Kalanaur (SC), Bahadurgarh, Badli, Jhajjar (SC), Beri, Atel, Mahendragarh, Narnaul, Nangal Chaudhry, Bawal (SC), Kosli, Rewari, Pataudi (SC), Badshahpur, Gurgaon, Sohna, Nuh, Ferozepur Jhirka, Punahana, Hathin, Hodal (SC), Palwal, Prithla, Faridabad NIT, Badkhal, Ballabgarh, Faridabad, and Tigaon.
Haryana assembly election major parties
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) with the Azad Samaj Party are the key parties in the state.
Haryana assembly election candidates
This year’s election featured only 1,031 candidates, with the highest number from Jind at 72. This is a decrease from 2014, when 1,351 candidates contested, and from 2019, when 1,169 candidates participated in the Assembly elections.
Prominent among those in the fray include chief minister Saini (Ladwa), Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda (Garhi Sampla-Kiloi), INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala (Ellenabad), JJP’s Dushyant Chautala (Uchana Kalan), BJP’s Anil Vij (Ambala Cantt) and O P Dhankar (Badli), AAP’s Anurag Dhanda (Kalayat) and Congress’s Vinesh Phogat (Julana).Among the independent candidates include Savitri Jindal (Hisar), Ranjit Chautala (Rania) and Chitra Sarwara (Ambala Cantt).
This election also witnessed a decrease in the number of women candidates, with only 101 women contesting in the Haryana elections. Notable candidates include Shakti Rani Sharma and Shalley Chaudhary from Ambala.
Haryana assembly elections voter turnout
Haryana recorded a voter turnout of 67.90% on October 5 for the 15th assembly general elections in 2024.Sirsa district recorded the highest turnout of 75.36%, while Faridabad district had the lowest at 56.49%.
Additionally, the Ellenabad assembly constituency saw the highest turnout at 80.61%, and the Badkhal assembly constituency recorded the lowest at 48.27%.
Ambala district had a voter turnout of 67.62%.Panchkula district showed 65.23%, Yamunanagar district 74.20%, Kurukshetra district 69.59%, Kaithal district 72.36%, Karnal district 65.67%, Panipat district 68.80%, Sonipat district 66.08%, Jind district 72.19%, and Fatehabad district 74.77%.Similarly, Hisar district recorded 70.58%, Bhiwani district 70.46%, Charkhi Dadri district 69.58%, Rohtak district 66.73%, Jhajjar district 65.69%, Mahendragarh district 70.45%, Rewari district 67.99%, Gurugram district 57.96%, Mewat district 72.81%, and Palwal 73.89%.
Out of the 2,03,54,350 voters in the state, 1,38,19,776 cast their votes, comprising 74,28,124 men, 63,91,534 women, and 118 third-gender voters.
What Exit poll predicted
Exit polls predicted that the Congress will be sweeping back into power in Haryana after a gap of 10 years.The party will be winning around 55 seats, the BJP 27 seats, INLD 2 seats, JJP 1 seat and others around 5 seats.
As per pollster Matrize, Congress is expected to win 55-62 seats, BJP 18-24, INLD 3-6, JJP 0-3 and others 2-5 seats.
Peoples Pulse has predicted that the Congress will secure around 49-61 seats, BJP 20-32, INLD 2-3, JJP 0-1 and others 3-5 seats.
Dhruv Research has predicted that the Congress will win around 50-64 seats, BJP 22-32 seats, and others 2-8.