Live: J&K records 49% voting, Jharkhand figure stands at 61.08% during fourth phase

7.00 pm: Fourth phase in J&K polls see 49% voting, Jharkhand 61.08% Ranchi: Polling in 15 constituencies of the state today ended with 61.08 percent electorate exercising their franchise in the penultimate phase of the Assembly elections in Jharkhand as the day passed off peacefully. The polling, which began at 7 am in all the seats, ended at 3 am in 13 constituencies while it concluded at 5 PM in Dhanbad and Bokaro, Election Commission office sources said in Ranchi. The 13 other seats which went for polling in this round were Madhupur, Deogarh (SC), Bagodar, Jamua (SC), Gandey, Giridih, Dumri, Chandankyari (SC), Sindri, Nirsa, Jharia, Tundi and Baghmara. “61.08 percent polling has been registered, which may go up (in the final count),” Chief Electoral Officer PK Jajoria told reporters in Ranchi adding voting passed off peacefully. Of the segments, Chandankyari (SC) registered the highest figure of 71.28 percent, followed by Madhupur at 70.20, the EC sources said. PTI 6 pm: Minor clashes reported during fourth phase of voting Srinagar: Workers of rival political parties today clashed at nearly a dozen places during polling in Srinagar and Anantnag districts of Kashmir Valley. Security personnel intervened in all the incidents and the violence did not impact the polling which went on uninterrupted, officials said, adding no major casualty was reported. The activists of Peoples Democratic Party and Congress used ‘kangris’ (fire pots used by Kashmiris to keep themselves warm) as missiles during a brawl outside a polling station at Dooru constituency in Anantnag district, an official said. Police and paramilitary forces deployed at the polling stations immediately swung into action and chased away the mobs. PTI 5 pm: 37% polling in J&K till 2 pm, minor clashes reported Srinagar: Ignoring the boycott call given by separatists and braving cold weather, over 37 percent of 14.73 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 2 pm in the penultimate phase of Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. Barring minor clashes between supporters of rival parties at a dozen places, polling in all the 18 constituencies spread over three districts of Kashmir, including summer capital Srinagar, and one district in Jammu region was by and large peaceful. An estimated 37.46 percent of electorate cast their ballot in the 18 constituencies spread over Srinagar and south Kashmir districts of Anantnag and Shopian and Samba district in Jammu region till 2 pm, an official spokesman said. He said Vijaypur constituency in Samba district recorded the highest turnout of 63.44 percent in the first six hours, while Habbakadal constituency in Srinagar witnessed the lowest 13.44 percent during the corresponding period. Despite severe cold, long queues of voters were seen outside the polling stations to exercise their franchise at many polling stations. The trends in voter turnout in eight constituencies of Srinagar city, which have witnessed low voter turnout in the past elections due to separatist boycott calls, pointed towards a higher poll percentage this time. PTI 3:00 PM Nearly 25 percent of voters cast their votes till 12 p.m. in the fourth phase of the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly elections, an Election Commission official said. “Till 12 p.m., 24.58 percent voting has taken place. The highest turnout was in Pahalgam constituency with 37.23 percent and the lowest in Habba Kadal at 7.58 percent,” the official said. Polling picked up in Srinagar and elsewhere in the Kashmir Valley as the day warmed up, with a weak winter sun struggling hard to break through the clouds. After a dull start, voters lined up at many polling stations in Srinagar city as well as in Anantnag and Shopian districts in south Kashmir. About a third of voters had cast their votes till 11.00 a.m. in the fourth phase of the Jharkhand state assembly elections, an Election Commission official said today. “Till 11.00 a.m., 30.06 percent voting has taken place. Till 11.00 a.m. the highest turnout was in Sindri with 40 percent, followed by Tundi with 39 percent,” the official added. Earlier, balloting for 15 of the total 81 seats of the Jharkhand state assembly began Sunday at 7 a.m. 11: 00 am PM Modi urges people to vote in large numbers Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged “friends” across Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand voting Sunday to vote in large numbers in the fourth phase of the ongoing assembly elections. “I urge all friends across J&K and Jharkhand voting today in the 4th phase of the Vidhan Sabha elections to vote in large numbers,” he said in a tweet. Balloting began Sunday in 18 assembly constituencies in the fourth of the five-phase elections in Jammu and Kashmir and 15 of the 81 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand. 10: 30 am The polling will take place at 5,482 booths including 36 auxiliary polling booths in Jharkhand. Among these, 716 polling booths have been declared very sensitive while another 2,007 have been declared sensitive. The election commission has declared 183 polling stations as model polling stations. Web casting facility would be available in 335 polling stations and approximately 27,410 polling personnel would be deployed for poll duties during the fourth phase. In the fourth phase, a total of 43,48,709 voters including 20,03,516 female voters will decide the fate of 217 candidates that includes 16 female candidates. [caption id=“attachment_1831421” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Voters wait to cast their ballot in Jammu and Kashmir. PTI[/caption] “Balloting for 13 of the 15 seats will take place from 0700hrs to 1500hrs, however, for the two seats in Dhanbad and Bokaro, voting would continue till 1700hrs,” said an official of the election commission. The key candidates whose fate will be decided in the fourth phase include former chief minister Babulal Marandi contesting from Giridih seat. Ministers Mannan Mallik of the Congress, Haji Hussain Ansari of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Suresh Paswan of the Rashtriya Janata Dal are among the other prominent candidates in this phase. 9: 00 am  Polling starts in Srinagar, Anantnag and Shopian Meanwhile in Jammu and Kashmir, polling started in the three districts of Srinagar, Anantnag, Shopian and Samba amid tight security even as few voters turned out to exercise their franchise because of freezing winter temperatures in the morning. The constituencies are spread over four districts - Srinagar, Anantnag and Shopian - in the Kashmir valley and Samba district in the Jammu region. Just two voters waited outside one polling station in Amira Kadal constituency in Srinagar as the doors of the polling station were opened to voters at 8 a.m. In Batmaloo constituency of Srinagar, only four voters came to cast their votes at a polling station. Voter turnout in the morning was very low in Idgah, Habba Kadal, Khanyar and Hazratbal constituencies as well, but poll officials said the turnout would start to pick up as the day progresses. A considerable number of early voters had turned up at Pahalgam, Doru, Shangus and Kokernag constituencies of Anantnag district, while voter turnout was low in the two constituencies of Shopian and Wachi of Shopian district. A queue of voters started building up in the Khimer and Chatterhama villages of Sonwar constituency, where state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is contesting from. His main challenger at the constituency is Muhammed Mir Ashraf from the Peoples Democratic Party. Voting is taking place for 16 constituencies in the Valley and two constituencies of Samba district in the Jammu region. Keeping in mind reports that separatists might try to disrupt the fourth phase poll process in the state, 440 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to secure the poll process. These are in addition to the already deployed personnel of the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force. Separatists have called for a boycott of the poll process. A total of 1,890 polling stations have been set up and over 14 lakh voters will decide the fate of political heavyweights. Among the high profile candidates, whose political future would be decided in today’s polls are Omar Abdullah, former chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and other ministers, including G.A. Mir, Ali Muhammad Sagar and Peerzada Sayeed. The fate of Mubarak Gul, speaker of the outgoing state assembly will also be decided in today’s polls. Polling will end at 4 p.m. today. IANS