The election phases will cover 24 seats in the first phase, 26 seats in the second, and 40 seats in the third.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced the full schedule for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections.
Addressing press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the Jammu and Kashmir polls will be conducted in three phases, starting on September 18, followed by September 25, and concluding on October 1. Votes will be counted on October 4 along with that of Haryana, which goes to polls on October 1.
The election phases will cover 24 seats in the first phase, 26 seats in the second, and 40 seats in the third. Notably In 2014, the Assembly elections were conducted in five phases.
The schedule announcement follows the Supreme Court’s directive for the Centre to hold Assembly elections by September 30, after upholding the decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. The region has been without an elected government since the collapse of the Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP coalition in 2018.
A delegation from the poll panel visited Srinagar from August 8 to August 10 to assess security measures. The panel identified several sensitive areas: north Kashmir districts such as Anantnag, Budgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Baramullah, Bandipore, Kupwara, Ganderbal, and Kulgam, along with Srinagar; and south Kashmir districts including Samba, Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur, and Riyasi.
During the recent Lok Sabha elections, Jammu and Kashmir recorded a voter turnout of 58.46 percent, the highest in nearly four decades. The last Assembly elections in the region took place in 2014, spanning five phases.The then state was bifurcated into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh — after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Chief election commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar told reporters: “There will be sufficient forces for the Amarnath Yatra and they will be further strengthened…. More important than forces is (the) trust of the people and their desire to elect a government.
“The desire to participate in the festival of democracy that we witnessed assures us that the people will give a befitting reply to it (increase in militant violence).”
He added: “The only objective is to build upon the foundation laid before the 2024 parliamentary polls.”
Jammu and Kashmir recorded a voter turnout of 58.58 per cent — a 35-year high — during the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.
Since the outbreak of militancy in the former state in 1989, elections have been held in more than three phases to allow an adequate deployment of security forces. Unlike most constituencies in the rest of the country, every candidate in Kashmir gets armedsecurity convoys.
The last government to rule the erstwhile undivided state was a coalition between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP. The last chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, quit in 2018 when the alliance ended over disagreements on thesecurity situation.
In December 2023, the Supreme Court directed that “steps shall be taken” by the poll panel to conduct elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30 this year. Ordinarily, the Election Commission conducts polls within six months of a legislaturebeing dissolved.
The commission denied any delay. “The Amarnathji Yatra concludes on August 19. The Lok Sabha elections ended on June 4…. There is no way one could have gone exactly on the date prescribed,” CEC Kumar said.
Asked why Maharashtra would not be voting along with Haryana, as it had done in 2019, Kumar replied: “That time J&K was not a factor…. Depending on the requirement of forces — which is higher in J&K, we decided to do these two (J&K and Haryana) together.
Within few days of the announcement, many political leaders have already switched sides and joined other political parties. Senior Leader Taj Mohiuddin has once again joined Congress party and left Ghulam Nabi Azad’s DPAP. Former Minister and APNI Party leader has also quit and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Meanwhile, the Vice President of Jammu and Kashmir National Conference Omar Abdullah released the Party Manifesto in Srinagar on Monday. The main issue in the manifesto still remains the revocation of Article 370 and 35a. It also talks about restoring statehood.
‘’Our manifesto was not prepared while sitting in office but took in consideration the opinions of people. It focusses on Restoration of our Political and Legal Status which is article 370 and 35a. Also about restoring the Statehood. We will also repeal all the new laws that have been introduced due to which our lands are being given away. It also speaks about the people languishing in jails, we will give amnesty to all political prisoners and repeal the PSA,” said Omar Abdullah, former CM of Jammu and Kashmir.
The manifesto also speaks about advocating for Indo-Pak dialogue as the best method to resolve ongoing conflicts. It also says that the JKNC is strongly committed to the dignified return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits. Not only that, NC also announced freebies for the citizens, including free education for all till university, and 200 units of electricity for every household.
‘’Electricity prices are going up and water is not available everywhere, we will address this as well. We will give 200 units free electricity. Free education will be given to the students of J&K upto University level. We will favour the India-Pakistan talks and support the CBM’s that were put at the time of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh,’’ said Omar.
None of the political parties have announced any alliance, but Congress and National Conference will soon discuss it. The National Conference has said that they will speak to the higher ups in Congress regarding a pre-poll alliance, while Congress leaders in Srinagar have said that they are open to ally with like-minded parties. Congress state president Tariq Qarra said in Srinagar that they will talk to regional political parties regarding an alliance.
‘’As far as the alliance, we are open to like-minded people or the parties to forge an alliance with them. NC has directly approached the party leadership in Delhi for a pre-poll alliance. If parties are of the idea that we have to defeat divisive forces and BJP, they will definitely ally with the Congress. And we will definitely succeed,” said Qarra.
Jammu and Kashmir will see a lot of new faces in the upcoming assembly elections as well.
