Over 6.97 lakh voters to decide fate of 22 candidates on May 6

Srinagar: Over 6.97 lakh electors are set to vote in the last phase of Parliamentary Elections 2019 in Jammu and Kashmir on May 6.
In the last phase, Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency and Pulwama-Shopian districts of Anantnag Parliamentary Constituency (PC) are going to polls with aggregated electoral strength of 697,148 voters including 357,879 males, 335,799 females, 3,456 service voters (3401 male and 55 female) and 14 transgender voters.
To ensure smooth conduct of polls, 1254 polling stations have been established by the Election Commission of India.
The Ladakh Parliamentary Constituency comprises two districts of Leh and Kargil. The Kargil district consists of two assembly segments Kargil and Zanskar while as Leh district includes Nubra and Leh assembly segments.
The Ladakh PC has an electoral strength of 174,618 voters. Out of total voters, 86752 are males, 85,064 females, 2,799 are service voters (2755 male and 44 female) and 3 transgender voters.
The ECI has set up 559 polling stations across the constituency for the smooth conduct of electoral exercise.
Kargil District has 87,781 electors including 44,057 males, 42,405 females, 1318 service electors (1315 male and 03 female) and single transgender voter. For smooth polling, the ECI has set up 265 polling stations across the district.
Similarly, Leh District has 86,837 electors including 42,695 males, 42,659 females, 1481 service electors (1440 male and 41 female) and two transgender voters. The election authorities have established 294 polling stations across the district to ensure smooth polling.
The ECI has established two polling stations in Leh (Gaik) and Nubra (Washi) segments having only seven voters each while as polling station with the highest number of voters (1301) has been set up at Leh (Shynam).
The highest polling station, Anlay Pho (Changthang), has been set up in Leh district at an altitude of 15,000 ft. The booth is barely 50 meters from the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The candidates in fray are Rigzin Spalbar of Indian National Congress (INC), Jamyang Tsering Namgyal of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Hussain, both independents.
The voting timing has been fixed from 7 am to 6 pm for the PC.
On the last leg of three-phased elections for Anantnag Parliamentary Constituency, the two southern Kashmir districts Pulwama and Shopian are also going for polls in the last phase of the elections in J&K State.
The twin districts of Pulwama and Shopian are spread over six assembly segments comprising Tral, Pampore, Pulwama, Rajpora, Wachi and Shopian. As many as 695 polling stations have been established across the districts for smooth conduct of elections.
These south Kashmir districts have 522,530 electors including 271,127 males, 250,735 females, 657 service electors (646 males and 11 females) and 11 transgender voters.
Pulwama District has 351,314 electors including 181,259 males, 169,508 females, 541 service electors (533 male and 08 female) and 06 transgender voters. For smooth polling, the ECI has set up 450 polling stations across the district.
Similarly, Shopian District has 171,216 electors including 89,868 males, 81,227 females, 116 service electors (113 male and 03 female) and five transgender voters. For smooth polling, the ECI has set up 245 polling stations across the district.
The candidates in the fray are Hasnain Masoodi of Jammu Kashmir National Conference, Sofi Yousuf of Bhartiya Janta Party, Ghulam Ahmad Mir of Indian National Congress, Mehbooba Mufti of Jammu Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, Nisar Ahmad Wani of Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers Party, Choudhary Zaffar Ali of Jammu Kashmir People’s Conference, Sanjay Kumar Dhar of Manav Adhikar Party, Surinder Singh of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) and Imtiyaz Ahmad Rather, Ridwana Sanam, Riyaz Ahmad Bhat, Zubair Masoodi, Shams Khwaja, Ali Mohammad Wani, Ghulam Mohammad Wani, Kyasir Ahmed Sheikh, Manzoor Ahmad Khan and Mirza Sajad Hussain Beigh, all independents.
The Anantnag and Kulgam districts of Anantnag PC went to polls on April 23 and April 29 respectively. The voting timing has been fixed from 7 am to 4 pm in these districts.