By IANS,
Jammu : The election process to the 87-member legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir began Friday with the issuance of notification for the first phase in which 10 constituencies go to polls Nov 17.
The districts going to polls in the first phase are Leh and Kargil in the cold desert region of Ladakh, Bandipore in Kashmir Valley and the mountainous, border district of Poonch in Jammu region.
Leh district has two constituencies – Nobra and Leh. It has the least number of voters at 74,396 of whom 37,623 are males and 36,773 females. Anlay Fu polling station in Leh is the highest at an altitude of 5,000 meters and Sunudo polling station has the least number of registered voters at 10.
The two seats in this district had gone uncontested to independent candidates – Sonam Wangchuk Narboo from Nobra and Nawang Rigzin from Leh Kargil. The district, also in Ladakh region, has 78,117 voters with two assembly constituencies – Kargil and Zanskar. The former was won by Haji Nissar Ali (independent) and the latter by Mohammad Akbar (National Conference) in 2002.
Bandipore district in Kashmir Valley constitutes three assembly seats – Gurez, Bandipore and Sonawari. The first seat went to Nazir Ahmad of National Conference (NC) in the 2002 polls, the second to Usman Majid of Jammu Kashmir Awami League and the third to Mohammad Akbar Lone of NC. This district has 186,069 voters with 96,848 males and 89,221 females.
Poonch district in Jammu region has three seats with 259,580 voters – 132,107 male and 12,747 female. The constituencies – Surankot, Mendhar and Poonch – had gone to Mushtaq Shah, Javed Rana and Ghulam Mohammad Jan, respectively, all from NC in 2002.
The last date for filing nominations is Oct 31 for the first phase of the seven-phase polls in Jammu and Kashmir. The election process is scheduled to be completed by Dec 31.