Voting began on Wednesday for the second phase of the assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir in which over 2.5 million voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates in the fray for 26 seats, including that of former chief minister of the erstwhile state Omar Abdullah, officials said.The voting began at 7 am across the 26 assembly constituencies amidst tight security arrangements, the officials said.
They said these assembly constituencies are spread over six districts -- three in the Valley and as many in the Jammu division. The Election Commission of India has established 3,502 polling stations in these segments. There are 1,056 urban polling stations and 2,446 rural polling stations, the officials said.
Security personnel comprising police, armed police and central armed paramilitary forces have been deployed in strength around the polling stations. A multi-tier security blanket has been thrown around each polling station to ensure the voting for the second phase is held in an atmosphere free of fear, they added. For this phase, 157 special polling stations have been established--- 26 'pink polling stations' managed by women, 26 polling stations manned by specially-abled persons, 26 polling stations manned by youths, 31 border polling stations, 26 green polling stations and 22 unique polling stations, the officials said.
Voting will end at 6 pm. During this phase, 93 candidates are in the fray in Srinagar district, followed by 46 in Budgam district, 34 in Rajouri district, .
