The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for assembly elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir on Friday.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said Jammu & Kashmir will go to polls in three phases.1 st phase on 18th Sept, 2nd phase on 25th September, 3rd phase on 1st October. Counting off votes will be held on 4th October.
Haryana votes in single phase for 90 seats on October 1, results to be declared on October 4. It will coincide with the last phase of Jammu and Kashmir. The announcement came after officials from the central poll body recently visited both states to oversee election preparations.
"There are a total of 90 assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, of which 74 are general, SC-7 and ST-9. There will be a total of 87.09 lakh voters in Jammu and Kashmir, of which 44.46 lakh are males, 42.62 lakh are females, 3.71 lakh are first-time voters and 20.7 lakh are young voters. The Amarnath Yatra will end on August 19 and the final voter list will also be published on August 20," Rajvi Kumar said.
A look at region-wise elections in J&K
In Jammu and Kashmir, the main regions that will go to polls in the first phase are Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, Ramban, Kishtwar, Doda
The second phase will see elections in Srinagar, Ganderbal, Poonch, Rajouri, Reasi.
The final phase of polls comprises of north Kashmir, Udhampur, Jammu and Kathua going to polls in the Union Territory.
First Assembly Election in J&K Since 2014
Jammu and Kashmir may have assembly elections for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370. The union territory was under the president's rule.
In December last year, the Supreme Court directed the central government to conclude the election process in Union territory 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 for the then-Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti. Recently, a poll body delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar reviewed the poll preparations in J&K. During a press conference in Jammu during the visit, Kumar emphasised that the commission is committed to holding elections there "at the earliest", reported PTI.
