Anantnag Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer Syeed Fakhrudin Hamid announced that 25 candidates have submitted nomination papers for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat in Jammu and Kashmir. Scrutiny is set for Saturday at 10 am, with nominations open for withdrawal until April 22. Symbol allotment will occur on April 23, he added.
“We have received 28 nomination papers, of which 3 candidates have submitted their nomination papers twice. So we have twenty-five candidates. The scrutiny date is set for Saturday at 10 am. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is April 22, and the allotment of symbols will take place on April 23,” Hamid said on Friday.
Key contenders for the Anantnag-Rajouri seat include PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference’s Mian Altaf, Apni Party’s Zaffar Iqbal Manhas, and Democratic Progressive Azad Party’s Mohammad Saleem Parray.
In the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, voting was conducted in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur constituency on Friday. The voter turnout in Udhampur was 68.27 percent as polling concluded for this phase.
This election marks the first Lok Sabha election in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370. The elections for the five seats in Jammu and Kashmir will occur in five phases. While Udhampur voted on Friday, Jammu will go to polls on April 26, Anantnag-Rajouri on May 7, Srinagar on May 13, and Baramulla on May 20.
Previously, there were six seats for Jammu and Kashmir, including Ladakh. However, after the Parliament’s abrogation of Article 370, Ladakh no longer has a Lok Sabha constituency. In the 2019 elections, the BJP won three seats, while the National Conference secured the other three seats.
