The battle lines have been drawn for the first phase of polls in Jammu and Kashmir, with most seats expected to witness multi-cornered contests.
The Assembly elections in J&K, being held after a decade, will see polling for the first phase on September 18.
As the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers for 24 Assembly Constituencies in the first phase ended on Friday evening, a total of 219 candidates remained in the fray.
In Kashmir, 155 candidates are contesting across 16 Assembly constituencies spread over four districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Pulwama, and Shopian.
The highest number of candidates-14-are contesting in the Pampore Assembly Constituency in Pulwama district, while the lowest-three-are contesting in the Srigufwara-Bijbehara Assembly Constituency in Anantnag district.
The key contestants in the first phase include senior Congress working committee member Ghulam Ahmed Mir, Iltija Mufti, daughter of Peoples Democratic Party Chief Mehbooba Mufti, CPIM leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, PDP youth leader Waheed Para, former MP and National Conference leader Hasnain Masood, senior NC leader Sakeena Itoo, BJP leader Sofi Youusf, and Talat Majeed, a former member of banned Jamaat-e-Islam, among others.
Observers feel that the contest in most seats in Kashmir is expected to be multi-cornered, as the delimitation of seats has contributed to the new complexities.
With Congress and the National Conference entering into a poll alliance with the NC bagging 51 seats and the Congress 32; two seats were left for allies CPI(M) and Panthers Party, it would face a tough contest from PDP and Independents.
While the NC-Congress alliance looks good, it will be interesting to see whether this translates into collaboration at the level of party cadres.
