“Apart from development, we are voting against what has been done to us. Our statehood has been snatched away, there is an onslaught on us in one way or the other every day. This is a vote against all that,” Ahmad said.All arrangements, including security related, are in place and the polling across the 24 assembly segments is going on smoothly, the officials said.In the first phase of the three-phase polls, seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir, located on either side of the Pir Panjal mountain range, are voting to choose their representatives.Over 23 lakh voters will decide the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents, who are running for 24 assembly segments — eight in three districts of Jammu region and 16 in four districts of Kashmir valley.The officials said a total of 14,000 polling staff will oversee the process at 3,276 polling stations.Prominent candidates in Kashmir whose fate will be sealed on Wednesday include CPI (M)’s Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, AICC general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, National Conference’s Sakina Itoo, and PDP’s Sartaj Madni and Abdul Rehman Veeri.PDP’s Iltija Mufti, contesting from Srigufwara-Bijbehara, and the party’s youth leader Waheed Para, from Pulwama, are also the contenders to watch for in the first phase.In Jammu, trying their luck are former ministers Sajjad Kitchloo (NC), Khalid Najib Suharwardy (NC) Vikar Rasool Wani (Congress), Abdul Majid Wani (DPAP), Sunil Sharma (BJP), Shakti Raj Parihar (Doda west), and Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, a three-time MLA who is fighting as an Independent after he was denied ticket by DPAP which he had joined after quitting Congress in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad two years ago.
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