Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 12 (ANI): Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency is going to polls on May 13 in the fourth phase of voting, the first Lok Sabha elections since the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
People's Democratic Party candidate Waheed Ur Rehman Para is facing Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi from the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, which has been represented by three generations of Abdullahs.
Both the Congress and BJP have not fielded their candidates for the seat.
"In this election, our effort will be to give a voice to the people of Kashmir and we are going door-to-door. Our effort will be to heal the people from the trauma, pressure and stress here. Our (party) programmes have been tailor-made," Para told ANI during a public meeting on May 8 in Budgam.
J-K has been under central rule since the fall of the PDP-BJP government in June 2018, with the last assembly polls held in 2014.
"It may seem to the BJP in their dreams that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are prosperous. But the ground situation is different, "Mehdi said at a poll rally in Srinagar.
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference bagged the Srinagar seat in the 2019 general elections. The Party President, Farooq Abdullah secured 106,750 votes (57.1 vote share per cent) against PDP's Aga Syed Mohsin who secured 36, 700 votes (19.6 per cent).
While Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference candidate Irfan Razz Ansari secured 28,733 votes.
Jammu and Kashmir has a total of 5 Lok Sabha seats including Baramulla, Srinagar, Anantnag-Rajouri, Udhampur and Jammu.
The voting in Jammu and Kashmir is being held in five phases.
In 2019, polling for the Lok Sabha was held for six seats in Jammu and Kashmir. However, following the abrogation of Article 370, which resulted in the split of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state into two Union Territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, there is no longer a separate Lok Sabha constituency for Ladakh.
In the 2019 elections, the BJP won three seats, while the National Conference won the remaining three.
The PDP and NC, despite being allies in the opposition alliance INDIA bloc, have decided to go solo in the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections are being held in seven phases running from April 19 to June 1.
The counting of votes and results will be declared on June 4. (ANI)
