Bhopal : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has appealed to voters of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their franchise for the ongoing third phase of assembly polls in the Union Territory.
The polling for the third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections began on Tuesday, with people queueing up at a polling station across 40 constituencies in seven districts of the Union Territory.
In a post on X, CM Yadav wrote, "Voting is going on for the third and final phase of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. Every vote is extremely important for the progress and bright future of the union territory. I appeal to all the voters to vote for giving a pace to the progress of the new Jammu and Kashmir."
According to the latest data issued by Election Commission of India (ECI), Jammu and Kashmir recorded 11.60 per cent voting in the initial voter turnout trend till 9 am on Tuesday.
Of the seven districts, Udhampur district is leading in the voter turnout chart with 14.23 per cent voting, followed by Samba at 13.31 per cent, Kathua at 13.09 per cent, Bandipore 11.64 per cent, Jammu at 11.46 per cent, Kupwara at 11.27 per cent and Baramulla at 8.89 per cent till 9 am.
The polls began at 7 am on Tuesday and will conclude at 6 pm. Voting will take place in 24 constituencies in the Jammu division and 16 constituencies in Kashmir amid strong security to ensure smooth and peaceful polls.
The intensive campaign for the third and final phase of polling in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections concluded on Sunday evening.
This election is notable as the first in a decade and the first since the revocation of Article 370 in August 2019. The three-phase election involves a multi-party contest for the 90 seats across the former state. The National Conference (NC) and the Congress have formed an alliance for these elections, while the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are among the other major contenders.
The first phase of voting took place on September 18, and the second phase concluded on September 25. According to the Election Commission of India, the first and second phases of polling recorded voter turnouts of 61 per cent and 57.31 per cent, respectively.
The counting of the votes will be done on October 8.