Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir to be held in three phases from September 18

New Delhi [India], August 16 (ANI): The Assembly elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases from September 18, the Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar announced on Friday.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Rajiv Kumar said that the assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases.

The elections of first phase will be held on September 18, second phase will be held on September 25 and third phase will be held on October 1. The counting of the votes will be held on October 4.

“Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases, with voting on September 18th, September 25th, and October 1st. Counting of votes on October 4,” Kumar said.

The dates to file the nominations for the first phase will be on August 27, nominations for the second phase will be on September 5, and September 12 is the last day to file nominations for the third phase.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said, “During Lok Sabha elections in J-K, people were there to participate in the elections. The long queues and the shine on their faces were a testament to this…There was thriving political participation in the entire election…We want the layers of democracy to be strengthened in J&K”

On August 14, the Election Commission held a meeting with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

There are a total of 90 assembly constituencies, of which 74 are General, nine are ST and seven are SC.

In Jammu and Kashmir, there are 87.09 lakh total electors. Of which 44.46 lakh are male, 42.62 female, 169 are Transgender, 82,590 PwDs, 73943 very senior citizens, 2660 centenarians, 76092 service electors, and 3.71 lakh are first-time voters.

Meanwhile, directions were given to Enforcement Agencies, DMs, and SPs to ensure free, fair, and inducement-free elections.

In December of last year, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to conclude the election process by September 30, 2024.

Jammu and Kashmir will witness elections after a gap of ten years as the last assembly election was held in 2014.

The PDP-BJP coalition government fell in June 2018 when the latter withdrew support to the then-Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti.