Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections: 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.