Srinagar, May 4 (IANS) As the campaign process ended on Saturday for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls in Ladakh and Anantnag constituencies, poll officials said all arrangements are in place for free, fair and transparent voting on May 6.
Poll officials said over 6.97 lakh voters would decide the fate of 22 candidates in Ladakh and Anantnag constituencies in the fifth and last phase of parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
"In the last phase, Ladakh parliamentary constituency and Pulwama-Shopian districts of Anantnag parliamentary constituency are going to polls with aggregated electoral strength of 697,148 voters -- including 357,879 males, 335,799 females, 3,456 service voters (3,401 male and 55 female) and 14 transgender voters.
"To ensure smooth conduct of polls, 1,254 polling stations have been established by the Election Commission," an EC statement said.
"Ladakh constituency comprises two districts of Leh and Kargil. The Kargil district consists of two Assembly segments -- Kargil and Zanskar -- while Leh district includes Nubra and Leh Assembly segments.
"The Ladakh constituency 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," it said.
"The EC has set up 559 polling stations across the constituency for the smooth conduct of the electoral exercise."
"Kargil district has 87,781 electors including 44,057 males, 42,405 females, 1,318 service electors (1,315 male and 3 female) and a single transgender voter.
"For smooth polling, the EC has set up 265 polling stations across the district," the statement said.
"Similarly, Leh district has 86,837 electors including 42,695 males, 42,659 females, 1,481 service electors (1,440 male and 41 female) and two transgender voters.
"The election authorities have established 294 polling stations across the district to ensure smooth polling," the statement said.
"The EC has established two polling stations in Leh (Gaik) and Nubra (Washi) segments having only seven voters each while polling station with the highest number of voters (1,301) 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 feet. The booth is barely 50 meters from the Line of Actual Control (LAC)," the statement said.
The candidates in the fray are Rigzin Spalbar of the Congress, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Hussain, both Independents.
"The vote timing has been fixed from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for Ladakh constituency.
"On the last leg of the three-phased elections for Anantnag constituency, the two southern Kashmir districts Pulwama and Shopian are also going for polls in the last phase of elections in the state.
"The twin districts of Pulwama and Shopian are spread over six Assembly segments comprising Tral, Pampore, Pulwama, Rajpora, Wachi and Shopian," the EC statement said.
As many as 695 polling stations have been established across the districts for the 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 eight female) and six transgender voters. 450 polling stations have been set up across the district.
Similarly, Shopian district has 171,216 electors including 89,868 males, 81,227 females, 116 service electors (113 male and three female) and five transgender voters. The EC 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 BJP, Ghulam Ahmad Mir of Congress, Mehbooba Mufti of Jammu Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party, Nisar Ahmad Wani of Jammu and 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 Independents 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.
"The Anantnag and Kulgam districts of Anantnag constituency went to the polls on April 23 and April 29, respectively. The vote timing has been fixed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. in these districts," the EC statement said.
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