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| EC announces much-awaited J&K Assembly polls | | Three-phase elections to start on September 18; counting of votes on October 4 | |  Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 16: Ending all speculations, Chief Election Commission of India (CEC) Rajeev Kumar Friday announced much-awaited maiden Assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The last assembly elections were held in 2014 when the present Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was a full-fledged State.
The three-phased assembly polls for J&K starting from September 18 and counting will be held on October 4.
“We had promised the shortest Assembly poll schedule and we stand by our promise. Elections in J&K will be held in three phases from September 18. The second phase will be on September 25 and the third phase will be held on October 3. Counting of votes will be done on October 6,” the CEC Kumar said addressing a press conference in New Delhi.
“The term and strength along with seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of the Assembly Constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir, as determined by the Delimitation Order,”, he said.
“The Commission has visited these Union Territory to review the poll preparedness and during the visit, the Commission interacted with political parties, enforcement agencies, all District Election Officers, SSPs/SPs, Divisional Commissioners, Range IGs, CS/DGPs and other senior officers of the UT”, he said, adding, “The Commission has also interacted with Home Secretary, Government of India. The team of senior officers of the Commission also visited these UT to review law and order situation, to ascertain UT-specific areas of concern, to discuss the quantum of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) required in each UT, and to review the overall preparedness of the election machinery”.
He further said that the Kashmiri migrant electors registered in several parts of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the Kashmir region, were forced to leave their native places during late 1980s and early 1990s because of terrorist activities of extremists supported from across the Indian borders. “In view of this, the Commission, after consultation with the Central Government and the State Government came out with a scheme to enable these migrant electors to cast their vote from wherever they are residing in the country, by way o First Phase (September 18)
Voting will be held on 24 assembly segments of Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, Ramban, Kishtwar and Doda districts.
Second Phase (September 25)
26 seats of Ganderbal, Srinagar, Budgam, Poonch, Reasi and Rajouri districts will go for polls.
Third Phase (October 1)
Voting will be held in 40 assembly segments of Bandipora, Kupwara, Baramulla, Udhampur, Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts.
The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) announced that there are 90 Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, with 74 designated as general, 7 reserved for Scheduled Castes, and 9 for Scheduled Tribes. The electoral roll includes 87.9 lakh voters, comprising 44.46 lakh male and 42.36 lakh female electors. He mentioned that the Amarnath Yatra will conclude on August 19, and the final electoral rolls will be published on August 20, with copies distributed to all political parties.
Accompanied by Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, the CEC shared that Jammu and Kashmir has a total of 11,838 polling stations across 9,169 locations, predominantly in rural areas. Of these, 360 have been designated as model polling stations.
Discussing the changing scenario after the Parliamentary elections, the CEC noted that there was a marked shift from cynicism to active political participation, with strong voter engagement and intense campaigning. He observed an improvement in the security situation and expressed hope for increased voter turnout, particularly among women and youth, during the upcoming elections.
The CEC emphasized that the enthusiasm witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections indicated a deep desire among the people to strengthen democracy. He remarked that the long queues at polling stations were not just a sign of voter turnout but a demonstration of the people's aspirations and their determination to shape their future through democratic means. He highlighted that the people of Jammu and Kashmir chose ballots over bullets, rejecting violence in favor of voting.
The CEC also mentioned that every section of society should have the opportunity to participate in the elections. To facilitate this, the process for migrant voters has been simplified with self-attestation allowed for Form M. He pointed out that during the Lok Sabha elections, there were no incidents requiring re-polling, and the elections were incident-free overall. Additionally, there was a significant seizure of Rs 100 crore worth of drugs and liquor during the election period. |
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