Srinagar, Sep 30: The People of Jammu and Kashmir will vote tomorrow in the third and final phase of assembly elections.

This polling will be held in 40 assembly constituencies—16 in Kashmir and 24 in Jammu—spread in the seven districts of Kupwara, Baramulla, Bandipora, Udhampur, Kathua, Samba, and Jammu.

J&K is voting for the first time in an Assembly election in a decade. The last assembly polls were held in 2014.

This is also the first Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state special status, in 2019.

In the first phase of polls, about 61 percent of the electorate in Jammu and Kashmir turned out to vote. In the second phase held last week, total voter turnout was 57.3 percent.

In the final phase, 39.18 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise across seven districts—three in the Kashmir Valley and four in the Jammu division. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has established a total of 5060 polling stations with webcasting across 40 assembly seats.

The voting will commence at 7 a.m. and continue till 6 p.m..

The 16 seats in Kashmir heading to polls on Tuesday include Karnah, Trehgam, Kupwara, Lolab, Handwara, Langate, Sopore, Rafiabad, Uri, Baramulla, Gulmarg, Wagoora-Kreeri, Pattan, Sonawari, Bandipora, and Gurez (ST).

The 24 seats of Jammu division voting on Tuesday include Udhampur West, Udhampur East, Chenani, Ramnagar (SC), Bani, Billawar, Basohli, Jasrota, Kathua, Hiranagar, Ramgarh (SC), Samba, Vijaypur, Bishnah (SC), Suchetgarh (SC), R.S.Pura-Jammu South, Bahu, Jammu East, Nagrota, Jammu West, Jammu North, Marh (SC), Akhnoor (SC), and Chhamb.

The third phase of polls will decide the fate of 415 candidates.

Election officials said 109 candidates remain in the electoral fray in Jammu district, followed by 101 in Baramulla district, 59 in Kupwara district, 42 in Bandipora district, 37 in Udhampur district, and 35 in Kathua district, while 32 candidates remain in the final fray in Samba district.

There are several notable candidates whose fate will be decided on Tuesday. There are over nearly two dozen former ministers and lawmakers whose fate will be sealed on Tuesday.

The key candidates include former deputy chief minister and Congress leader Tara Chand, who is contesting from the Chhamb Assembly constituency; former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig, who is fighting as an independent candidate from Baramulla; Sajad Lone of the Peoples Conference; Bashaarat Bukhari of the Peoples Democratic Party; Choudhary Ramazan of the National Conference; Sham Lal Sharma and Devender Singh Rana of the Bhartiya Janta Party; and Choudary Lal Singh of Congress, Usman Majeed, among others.

In Kashmir, all eyes will be on the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP), headed by Member Parliament Abdul Rashid Sheikh, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, who was released from Tihar jail on interim bail and rigorously campaigned for the assembly polls.

UNI