BANNU, Jul 25 (APP):Like others districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmiris voters settled in Bannu on Sunday afternoon thronged to polling stations to elect candidates on two reserved seats of the Legislative Assembly (LA) of Azad Jummu and Kashmir (AJK) Elections 2021.
Long queues of Kashmiris voters including male, female, senior citizens and young voters were thronged to polling stations setup at Government High School No 2 Bannu where separate polling booths were setup for LA-XLV Kashmir Velley-VI and LA-XXXIX Jammu-VI constituencies after Zuhar prayer despite scorching heat .
Great enthusiasm are being witnessed among Kashmiris voters especially young voters in Bannu.
Kashmiris living in 21 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Mardan, Peshawar, Nowshera, Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, South Waziristan, Swat, Batgram, Buner, Tank, Charsadda, Chitral, Shangla, Swabi, Kohat, Kohistan, Lakki Marwat, Lower Dir and Mohmand were polling their votes for LA-XLV Kashmir Velley-XI in a free and transparent manner.
The political observers said close contest was expected among Ahmad Shahid Mushtaq (Football), Abdul Majid Khan (PTI), Abdul Nasir Khan (Truck) and Noorul Bari (JI) on LA XLV Kashmir Velley-XI.
In this constituency, total registered voters are 6,951 including 3,860 male and 3,091 female for whom 41 polling stations including seven for male, nine for female and 25 combined setup.
Likewise, 64 polling booths were established including 29 for male, 32 female and three combined.
As many 41 presiding officers are supervising the polling process with assistance of polling officers and assistant returning officers.
Kashmiries voters also thronged to polling stations setup for LA-XXXIX Jammu-VI seat consisting of 23 districts in two provinces including Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Attock, Jhelum, Chakwal, Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Kohat, Buner, Charsadda, Karak, Kohistan, Mohmand, Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Swat, Swabi, Upper Dir and Chitral.
A total of 13 candidates are in run for this constituency including Chaudhary Fakhar Zaman (PPP), Nazia Niaz (PTI) and Raja Sadeeq (PMLN) where tough contest is expected.
The law enforcement agencies and police were deployed outside of the polling stations and arms, ammunition and mobile phones were not allowed inside polling stations.
The voting process was started at 8am and will continue till 5pm. However, voters inside polling stations would be allowed to cast votes after expiry of the deadline.