The poll process for the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election, which has been fraught with problems from the word get-go, will see its culmination on Saturday, April 15, with the counting taking place and the results being declared.
The total voter turnout, despite repolling in 38 booths on Thursday, is just above 7 percent. what remains to be seen is whether National conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah wins this election: It is more of a prestige issue for him. His opponent is Nazir Ahmad Khan of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). There are seven other candidates in the fray.
Bypolls in Srinagar were necessitated by the resignation of PDP MP Tariq Ahmad Karra, who stepped down in protest against the Central government and Parliament's "failure" to end violence in J&K, which had started after the death of terrorist Burhan Wani.
Here are the LIVE updates of the counting:
4:15 pm IST: Farooq Abdullah thanks people for handing him a win.
Thank people who supported.This was the bloodiest election ever. Results show that people are in favour of NC:F Abdullah on #SrinagarBypoll pic.twitter.com/v5cMh9MYik
— ANI (@ANI_news) April 15, 2017
3:37 pm IST: Farooq Abdullah wins Srinagar byelection by more than 10,000 votes.
Latest update
— DIPRJK (@diprjk) April 15, 2017
Farooq Abdullah. 44,421.
Nazir Khan 34231
3:30 pm IST: The lead is closer to 10,000 again, and Farooq Abdullah is even closer to victory.
3:10 pm IST: The lead is narrowed again, but Farooq Abdullah seems to be on the home stretch.
2:45 pm IST: Farooq Abdullah has now take a lead of more than 10,000 votes.
#Srinagar by-polls results: 64033 votes counted till 2:30 PM, Farooq Abdullah leading by 10,650 votes.
— Younus Rashid (@younusrashid8) April 15, 2017
2 pm IST: The lead narrows, but not enough to give Nazir Ahmad Khan any hope.
12:40 pm IST: The lead is now over 10,000.
12:20 pm IST: Abdhullah has now extended his lead beyond 9,700. And almost all votes that were cast have been counted. There is little chance of Nazir Ahmad Khan catching up now.
Last Updated at 12:00 PM
— DIPRJK (@diprjk) April 15, 2017
Counting In Progress
Total Votes Polled: 52132
# FAROOQ ABDULLAH29839
# NAZIR AHMAD KHAN20134
12:02 pm IST: some people are already announcing a win for Farooq Abdullah.
Farooq Abdullah won Srinagar Seat
— girish sharma (@gsaccounts) April 15, 2017
11:50 am IST: The lead is now up to 9,200!
Srinagar LS by-polls resuls : Farooq Abdullah leading by 9199 votes till 11:40 AM.
— Younus Rashid (@younusrashid8) April 15, 2017
11:45 am IST: It seems Farooq Abdullah has extended his lead to near-assailable proportions.
*Srinagar Bypoll*
— Kashmir Despatch (@KashmirDespatch) April 15, 2017
National Conference President Farooq Abdullah leads over PDP's Nazir Ahmad by 8113 votes (ECI).
11:20 am IST: And Abdullah Sr seems to have extended his lead even further!
Srinagar Counting: Updated at 11:01:56 AM
— DIPRJK (@diprjk) April 15, 2017
FAROOQ ABDULLAHNC 21202
Nazir Khan PDP 15616
Total Votes Polled:38541
11:10 am IST: Former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah now reportedly leads by 5,000 votes.
11 am IST: Farooq abdullah is reported to have taken a lead of 3,000 votes. The trend is clear. The NC looks set to win this Lok Sabha seat.
10:40 am IST: We are just about halfway through with the counting, and Farooq Abdullah leads by around 2,200 votes.
10:20 am IST: Farooq Abdullah maintains his lead of around 2,100 votes after the end of the third round of counting.
9:40 am IST: Farooq Abdullah now leads by around 2,000 votes.
Farooq Abdullah leads by 2000 votes in Srinagar Parliamentary constituency .
— Only Kashmir (@onlykmr) April 15, 2017
9:20 am IST: Looks like Farooq Abdullah has taken a healthy lead of more than a thousand votes!
Farooq Abdullah(NC) leading by 1133 votes.
— Shashank Pradhan (@PradhanShashank) April 15, 2017
Nazir Ahmad Khan(PDP) trailing#srinagarbypoll #Srinagar
9:10 am IST: No vote has been cast through postal ballots.
KashmirResults: Zero votes cast through postal ballot
— Sameer Bin Salam (@SameerBinSalam1) April 15, 2017
Srinagar:None of nine candidates for Srinagar parliament got even a single vote.
9:05 am IST: Farooq Abdullah has a slim lead of 180 votes.
#FarooqAbdullah leading with 180 votes in #Srinagar LS seat election held on April 9
— Shujaat Bukhari (@bukharishujaat) April 15, 2017
8:45 am IST: And the first round of counting is complete.
8:35 am IST: It seems mediapersons have not been allowed to enter the counting venue — Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) — despite having the requisite permits.
Media disallowed to enter counting Center at Srinagar disputes valid EC passes.RO Srinagar refused to honour EC authorisation letters pic.twitter.com/dMvF5Tfk42
— Nazir Masoodi (@nazir_masoodi) April 15, 2017
8:20 am IST: The couting could face some snags, because many EVMs were stolen and some were damaged in the violence on the first day of polling on April 9, J&K Chief Electoral Officer Shantmanu had told IBTimes India.
8 am IST: Counting begins for the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election. The process should not take much time, because not too many votes need to be counted.