After Serial Terror Attacks, Third Round of Voting in Jammu and Kashmir: 10 ... - NDTV

Here are the latest developments:

1. Voting is taking place under heavy security in three Kashmir districts - Budgam, Pulwama and Baramulla.


2. Among the areas voting today are Uri, Sopore and Tral, where terrorists struck on Friday. The worst attack was at Uri, where terrorists sneaked into an army camp and killed nine soldiers and three policemen. Grenade attacks took place in Tral on Friday and Sunday.


3. The Army says the attacks were meant to disrupt the elections after the record turnout of over 70 per cent in the first two rounds of polling.


4. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has blamed the terror strikes on hype over the turnout, saying it was like "walking into a tiger's cage and pulling its tail."


5. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Srinagar - the first by the BJP in over a decade - and in Jammu's Samba. "The finger that presses the EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) button is stronger than the one on the AK-47 trigger," PM Modi said, congratulating people for defeating "the bullet with the ballot."


6. Besides Mr Abdullah, who is contesting from Beerwah in Budgam, three state ministers and 10 more lawmakers are among 144 candidates today. The ruling National Conference holds only four of the 16 seats going to polls; the opposition PDP represents nine.


7. PM Modi's BJP is targeting an unprecedented majority in the state's 87-member assembly as part of what it calls its "Mission 50 plus".


8. In the Lok Sabha elections held in May, the BJP registered its best performance ever in Jammu and Kashmir, winning three of the six seats. The PDP won the rest, wiping out the National Conference-Congress combine.


9. Elections are also being held in 17 of the 81 seats in Jharkhand today. The constituencies are spread over eight districts -- Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Bokaro, Chatra, Seraikella/Kharsawan, Ramgarh, Kodarma and Giridih.


10. The next phase of elections - the fourth - will be held on December 14. The counting of votes is on December 23.

Story First Published: December 09, 2014 08:47 IST

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