Elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which will be held after a decade, are in line with Supreme Court directive to restore democracy by September 30.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced the schedule for the upcoming legislative assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana.
The polling for all 90 seats in Haryana will take place on October 1. In Jammu and Kashmir, where the assembly elections will be held after a decade, will see elections in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1. The first phase in Jammu and Kashmir will cover 24 seats, followed by 26 seats in the second phase, and 40 seats in the final phase.
This election is particularly significant for Jammu and Kashmir as it marks a major step towards fulfilling the Supreme Court’s directive to restore democracy in the region by September 30. The last assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in November-December 2014, over five phases.
The final voter list, expected to include around 87 lakh voters, will be published by August 20, just after the conclusion of the Amarnath Yatra. The Election Commission has assured that the election timeline is in line with the Supreme Court’s deadline, despite the results being announced four days later on October 4.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, alongside Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu during the media interaction in Delhi, stated that assembly elections in Maharashtra, which were held with Haryana in 2019, will be announced later due to security concerns in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides these states, elections are also due in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi.
This announcement comes months after the Supreme Court upheld the Central Government’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and mandated that assembly elections be conducted by the end of September.
Jammu and Kashmir has 87.09 lakh eligible voters, with an equal number of males and females, according to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). There will be more than 11,800 polling stations across the region. Of the total voters, 44.46 lakh are male, 42.62 lakh are female, and 3.71 lakh are first-time voters. On average, each polling station will serve 735 voters, as per the Election Commission of India (ECI) data. The state’s 90 assembly constituencies include 74 general seats, nine reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), and seven for Scheduled Castes (SC).
Haryana also has 90 constituencies, with 73 general seats and 17 reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC). Haryana has a total of 2.01 crore eligible voters, comprising 1.06 crore males, 0.95 crore females, 4.52 lakh first-time voters, and 40.95 lakh young voters.
Historical Context
The last assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were conducted in 2014. During those elections, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) emerged as the largest party, securing 28 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) followed with 25 seats. The PDP and BJP subsequently formed a coalition government, with Mehbooba Mufti serving as Chief Minister. This coalition government collapsed in June 2018 when the BJP withdrew its support for Mehbooba Mufti, leading to the region being governed directly by the central government.
In December 2023, the Supreme Court directed the central government to conclude the electoral process by September 30, 2024. This directive underlined the urgency of reinstating an elected assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been without one for nearly a decade.