ECI announces three-phase assembly polls in J&K from September 18
Srinagar, Aug 16: The assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir in three phases from September 18th, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said today.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Kumar said that polls will be held in three phases – September 18th, 25th September and October 1.
“The polls will be held in a very short time as promised,” said Kumar.
He said that counting of votes will be done on October 4.
Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, Ramban, Kishtwar and Doda districts will go to polls in the first phase.
The district that will go to polls in the second phase include Ganderbal, Srinagar, Budgam, Poonch, Reasi and Rajouri.
Bandipora, Kupwara, Baramulla, Udhampur, Jammu, Samba and Kathua will go to polls in the third and last phase.
The dates to file the nominations for the first phase will be on August 27, 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 and 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 and Kashmir will witness elections after a gap of ten years as the last assembly election was held in 2014.
The PDP-BJP coalition government fell in June 2018 when the latter withdrew support to the then-Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti.
