The highest among the three phases, 65.58% of polling was recorded in the 40 assembly constituencies across Jammu and Kashmir where voting was held on Tuesday in the third and final phase of the elections.

The assembly elections in J&K held after a gap of ten years witnessed polling in three phases. The first phase recorded 57.31% polling, while 61.38% of votes were cast in the second phase.

This phase of polling is considered crucial for government formation as voting was held for the highest number of 40 seats in 7 districts. Earlier in the first and second phases, 24 and 26 seats, respectively, went to polls.

The electoral exercise witnessed the Balmiki community and West Pakistan refugees voting in the assembly elections for the first time in 77 years. These segments of society were empowered to vote after the J&K Reorganisation Act came into force following the abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August 2019.

Polling booths in the areas where these two communities reside witnessed heavy polling since the early morning.

The turnout of voters was high in the assembly constituencies along the international border with Pakistan and the Line of Control (LOC). However, polling in Jammu city remained slow till noon. Jammu’s Chhamb assembly constituency along the Pakistan border recorded the highest polling percentage of 77.35%.

While polling in most of the 24 seats of the Jammu division crossed 70%, it went beyond 60% in many of the 16 seats of the Kashmir valley.

The polling started at 7 am in all 5,060 polling stations across 40 Assembly constituencies of seven districts namely Kupwara, Baramulla, and Bandipora in Kashmir Division; and Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua, and Samba in Jammu Division. Earlier, mock drills were also conducted in all the polling stations.

From early morning, long queues of enthusiastic voters are being witnessed, waiting for their turn to exercise their right to franchise.

In this phase, 39,18,220 voters were eligible to cast their ballots, comprising 20,09,033 male voters, 19,09,130 female voters, and 57 third-gender voters. This phase will determine the fate of 415 candidates.

The final phase will determine the fate of several prominent political figures, including 17 former ministers, eight ex-MLAs, and four officials who took voluntary retirement from services (VRS) to join the electoral race.

Among the top contenders in the Kashmir division are former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Beg and former ministers, Taj Mohiud-Din, Sajjad Lone, Syed Basharat Bukhari, Ghulam Hassan Mir, and Imran Ansari, representing major political parties such as the People’s Conference, Apni Party, National Conference (NC), and People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Key figures from Jammu are: former deputy chief ministers Tara Chand (Chhamb), Mula Ram (Marh), Sham Sharma and Ajay Sadhotra (Jammu North), Devender Rana (Nagrota) along with other senior politicians including Raman Bhalla and Choudhary Gharu Ram (Jammu South-RS Pura), are also vying for victory.

The notable candidates in the fray include BJP national secretary Narinder Singh and former MLA Devender Singh Rana, contesting from Jammu South-RS Pura and Nagrota, respectively.