J&K: Doda to vote in first phase, last date for nomination filing on Aug 27

Doda (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 18 (ANI): Doda District Election Officer Harvinder Singh said that the code of conduct has come into force with the three constituencies of the district voting in the first phase on September 18.

During a press conference on Saturday, Harvinder Singh said that the last date for the filing of nominations is August 27.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the election in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on August 16. The polling in the UT will be held in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1.

Singh said that the notification of the polling will be issued on August 20 and the last date for withdrawing candidature will be on August 30.

“A model code of conduct was enforced when the date was announced. We have convened training and interactive sessions with political parties,” the district election officer said.

According to the ECI, the counting of the votes will take place on October 4. The election body has directed the enforcement agencies to be impartial and transparent for smooth and fair polling, ensuring a level playing field.

There are a total of 90 assembly constituencies, of which 74 are general, nine are ST, and seven are SC. There are 87.09 lakh total electors, including 44.46 lakh are male, 42.62 lakh are female, 169 are transgender, 82,590 PwDs, 73943 are very senior citizens, 2660 are centenarians, 76092 are service electors, and 3.71 lakh are first-time voters.

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.

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