The Assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir will be held in three phases from September 18, the Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar announced on August 16.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Rajiv Kumar said that the assembly election in Jammu & Kashmir will be held in three phases.
The elections of first phase will be held on September 18, second phase will be held on September 25 and third phase will be held on October 1. The counting of the votes will be held on October 4.
FIRST PHASE (SEPTEMBER 18)
Pulwama
Anantnag
Shopian
Kulgam
Ramban
Kishtwar
Doda
SECOND PHASE (SEPTEMBER 25)
Ganderbal
Srinagar
Budgam
Poonch
Reasi
Rajouri
THIRD PHASE (OCTOBER 1)
Bandipora
Kupwara
Baramulla
Udhampur
Jammu
Samba
Kathu
“Assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir will be held in three phases, with voting on September 18, September 25, and October 1. Counting of votes on October 4,” Rajiv Kumar said.
The dates to file the nominations for the first phase will be August 27, the nominations for the second phase will be on September 5, and September 12 is the last day to file nominations for the third phase.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said, “During Lok Sabha elections in J&K, people were there to participate in the elections. The long queues and the shine on their faces were a testament to this…There was thriving political participation in the entire election…We want the layers of democracy to be strengthened in J&K.”
On August 14, the Election Commission held a meeting with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
There are a total of 90 assembly constituencies, of which 74 are General, nine are ST and seven are SC.
In Jammu & Kashmir, there are 87.09 lakh total electors. Of which 44.46 lakh are male, 42.62 female, 169 are Transgender, 82,590 PwDs, 73943 very senior citizens, 2660 centenarians, 76092 service electors, and 3.71 lakh are first-time voters.
Meanwhile, directions were given to Enforcement Agencies, DMs, and SPs to ensure free, fair, and inducement-free elections.
In December of last year, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to conclude the election process by September 30, 2024.
Jammu & Kashmir will witness elections after a gap of ten years, as the last assembly election was held in 2014.
Jammu & Kashmir has been without an elected Government since June 2018, when the Bharatiya Janata Party broke its alliance with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), forcing Mehbooba Mufti to resign as chief minister. The state was headed by then Governor Satya Pal Malik, who dissolved the J&K Legislative Assembly on November 28, 2018, soon after Mehbooba Mufti staked a claim to form the government with the support of Congress and the National Conference (NC). However, on December 19, 2018, then President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, issued a notification announcing President’s Rule in J&K under Article 356 of the Constitution of India. Eight months later, on August 5, 2019, the BJP-led government at the Centre repealed Article 370, providing special status to J&K, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into union territories.
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