Voters stand in a queue to cast votes at a polling center at Khan Sahib in Budgam district during the second phase. | Photo: PTI Voters stand in a queue to cast votes at a polling center at Khan Sahib in Budgam district during the second phase. | Photo: PTI 
In the third and final phase of voting in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections scheduled today, more than 39.18 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes in 40 assembly constituencies across seven districts.
In the Kashmir Valley, 16 constituencies in North Kashmir are going to thepolls, including Karnah, Tregham, Kupwara, and Sopore. In Jammu, polling is in 24 constituencies, including Udhampur, Ramnagar, and Jammu East. This phase will be crucial in shaping the region's first elected government after the abrogation of Article 370.
North Kashmir and Jammu have a history of high voter turnout even amid boycott calls, and in this phase the polling percentage is likely to cross 60 per cent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP president JP Nadda, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, along with several Union Ministers, visited Jammu for the final phase of campaigning.
The Congress-National Conference alliance was represented by Opposition leader in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, NC president Farooq Abdullah, and vice-president Omar Abdullah. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and her daughter Iltija Mufti campaigned for their party's candidates.
The fight in North Kashmir's Kupwara, Handwara, and Langate constituencies are of interest. People's Conference leader Sajad Lone is contesting in Handwara, while MP Engineer Rashid's brother is contesting in the Langate seat. The PDP is focusing its efforts on Kupwara, where former MP Fayyaz Mir is competing.
While BJP leaders talk about peace and development after the removal of Article 370, the National Conference and Congress have focused on rising unemployment and concerns that outsiders are being prioritised over locals, saying that Article 370’s removal has opened Jammu and Kashmir's limited resources and job opportunities to everyone, leaving locals in a disadvantageous position.
J&K Assembly Elections: Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi speaks to Outlook Ubeer Naqushbandi BJP talks about 'three families'While addressing a rally at MA Stadium, his fourth and last for the three-phase J&K Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Jammu and Kashmir was going to write a new chapter in the polls by forming the government which the people of Jammu region were aspiring to have. The Prime Minister said that a BJP-majority government was coming up and that it was a historical opportunity for Jammu.
The Prime Minister said that during these polls he had travelled to many places across J&K and wherever he went he saw people having hope in the BJP. The Prime Minister said the people of J&K were tired of the three families of Congress, National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party and that people don’t want a repeat of the same administration with corruption, discrimination, and favouritism in employment.
He added that the people of J&K don’t want terrorism, bloodshed and separatism either. “People of Jammu and Kashmir want peace and tranquillity. People here want a better future for their children and that is why people of J&K want to have the BJP government,” he said.
NC talks about ‘ten-year rule of BJP’ in J&KFormer Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, vice president of the National Conference, addressed the ramifications of Article 370 abrogation at a rally in Vijaypur, Jammu stating that the move had opened Jammu and Kashmir’s limited resources and jobs to 140 crore people of the country, overwhelming the residents of J&K. “I am surprised when the BJP talks about a double engine government,” he said adding that the BJP has been managing affairs in J&K since 2015 and after 2017, it has been directly governed by a Lieutenant Governor reporting to the Centre. “We have seen their government for the past ten years, and we have seen no development,” he added. He criticised the current government saying, “It is in their government when a bus was attacked in Reasi where ten yatris were martyred. It is under their rule that terrorism has spread in Jammu. We had left Jammu free of militancy during our rule; there was no militancy here.”
Confident about forming the government in J&K, Omar said, “After October 8, it will be the National Conference that will rule Jammu and Kashmir, and we will have the responsibility to free Jammu from militancy and terrorism. We will do it, and we will not lose this opportunity.”
Future Tense: From The Ground In Jammu And Kashmir 'J&K just a chessboard for BJP'While addressing a rally in Jammu, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said the BJP leaders have turned Jammu and Kashmir into a chess board. “They don’t form policies for you and J&K. Instead, they form policies about you to raise emotional tempers in the rest of the country.” “They make policies about you in such a way to do the politics in the rest of the country,” Congress leader said.
“I was watching the Prime Minister’s speech. I realised that there was no seriousness in his speech as people expect seriousness from the speeches of the leaders about their issues,” the Congress leader said, adding that the BJP leaders don’t talk about developmental issues. “I realised they don’t talk about issues of J&K and what is in the hearts of the people here,” she said.
Poverty after Article 370While addressing a rally in Kupwara, PDP's Iltija Mufti claimed “We were only four years in the government and we did in four years what that the National Conference had not done in their long rule.”
“After abrogation of Article 370slotastic, for the first time poverty has struck Kashmir,” Iltija said. Iltija added that it will be hung Assembly this time and that the PDP will have a decisive role in the government.