Assembly Elections To Return, Democracy to return in Jammu and Kashmir and it is better late than ever that the decision was made to do this.
Assembly Elections To Return As reported in mint:
“The assembly elections for 90 seats of Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases – September 18, 25 and October 1, ” the Election Commission said on August 16.
Both Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir assemblies have 90 seats each. Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand will be held later.
The assembly election in Haryana will be held in a single phase on October 1. The results of both the assembly elections will be declared on October 4”.
According to the timeline shared by the poll body, a notification will be issued on September 9. The last date for making nominations for Phase I is August 27, while the last date for withdrawing candidatures is August 30. Polling for Phase I will be held on September 18.
Creating history with polls reopening in J-K that’s going to be the first assembly elections polls since 2014.
Jammu and Kashmir has been under Central rule since June 19, 2018, following the collapse of a coalition government headed by the People’s Democratic Party’s Mehbooba Mufti after its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled out later.
Following the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories that Is Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh which happened in August of 2019 and the abrogation of Article 370, the Assembly polls could not be held due to multiple reasons, including a delimitation exercise completed in 2022.
In December of 2023, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to conclude the election process by September 30, 2024 where the process has already started and is taking its roots.
Polling for the first phase will be held on September 18, the second phase on September 25, and the final phase on October 1 with results on October 4.
As reported further by Hindustan times:
“The dates for the gazette notification for the three phases will be August 20, August 29, and September 9, respectively. The last dates for making nominations for the three phases will be August 27, September 5 and September 12 respectively.
The announcement comes a week after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, along with election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, visited the union territory.”
“We have seen long queues of people in Jammu and Kashmir during Lok Sabha polls, which showed they want to be part of the democratic process and preferred ballot over bullet,” said Rajiv Kumar during the briefing on Friday.
Jammu and kashmir has an equal percentage of males and females, said the CEC and that the total count of polling stations will be over 11,800.
44.46 lakh are male, 42.62 are female and 3.71 lakh are first time voters. Average voters per polling station is 735, showed the ECI data.
As Said in The Indian express:
“Considering the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, all candidates would need security cover, leading to an increase in the requirement. Sources said, the EC expects an average of 15 to 20 candidates to contest from each constituency across the UT, where 90 seats go for polls.”
Not only J-K but in Haryana elections are also being held as announced by The Election Commission but not all the four where polls are due by the end of this year. Ironically, this comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong pitch for “one nation, one election” in his Independence Day speech.
Elections have also not been announced due to weather changes and rain.
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