amit-shah-to-address-five-election-rallies-in-jammu

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is leading the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign for the third phase of the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir from  Thursday, September 26.

 

He will address five rallies, beginning with Chenanai, then Udhampur and then Bani and Jasrota before addressing the final rally in Madh.

 

Polling for phase III will be held on October 1.

 

Earlier on Sunday, while addressing a rally in Nowshera of Rajouri district, Shah said there was no fear of firing on the borders due to the strong Modi government and that “if Pakistan fires a single bullet, we will respond with a mortar shell.

 

“Concrete bunkers have been made in border areas like Nowshera by us, but I assure you that these bunkers are not needed now.”

 

Polling for phase two ended with 54.18 per cent voter turnout, which was revised by the Election Commission of India to 56.05 per cent.

 

A majority of the sections, around 80 per cent, saw a dip in voting percentages compared to recorded figures in the 2014 assembly elections.

 

With the fate of 239 candidates sealed in the ballot boxes, including the bigwigs and heavyweights of regional politics, the focus now shifts to the last phase of the elections to be held on October 1.

 

Phase III has 40 assembly constituencies spread across the Jammu division and north Kashmir region.

 

Campaigning for this phase will commence with Amit Shah addressing five rallies in different constituencies.

 

Elections in J&K are taking place after a decade under tight security measures; so far in the two previous phases, no incident of violence was reported, and voting was conducted peacefully.

 

Major parties contesting in the elections are the BJP, which aims to form a government without alliances, which by far seems impossible given the regional demographics.

 

NC-Congress are contesting as allies to avoid a hung assembly - however as of now it seems more likely as no major party will have an absolute majority going forward.

 

Peoples Democratic Party is also contesting on its own. However, given the party's miscalculated 2014 alliance with the BJP, it is now restricted to pockets of south Kashmir where electoral dynamics have drastically transformed post-Jamaat-e-Islami's inclusion.

 

The results of phase III will be announced on October 8, alongside Haryana poll results.