The union territory of Jammu and Kashmir may soon witness its first assembly elections as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has started preparations for it.
Last week, while speaking to the media about the success of the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said that now was the right time to hold elections in the erstwhile state.
Getting into groove
The poll body last week also started accepting applications from political parties for the use of common symbols for their candidates – one of the first steps for elections in the UT. It is important to note that the last elections in the erstwhile state took place in November-December 2014. In November 2018, the assembly was dissolved, and in 2019 the process of splitting the state into two UTs, J&K and Ladakh, started.
News18 has learnt that the period between August and September is being considered for holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir, while the poll body is yet to say something officially. This year, the annual Amarnath Yatra in the UT is scheduled between June 29 and August 19. Due to security reasons, elections will not take place during this period. Further, the Supreme Court has given a deadline of September 30 to the poll body to complete the election. In December 2023, the apex court ordered the ECI to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, 2024.
In May, News18 reported about the success of the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls in the UT. Post-1984, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections saw the best voter turnout in the region with around 58% average participation in the five seats in Jammu and Kashmir. Turnout measures the percentage of voters that have actually taken part in an election. A turnout of 58% means out of every 100 registered voters, 58 came out to vote. Before this, the highest turnout the region saw was 46% in 2014. The ECI is considering this as grounds for holding assembly polls, believing that the common man is ready for it.
Bifurcation of state
Jammu and Kashmir became a union territory in 2019 after its separation from Ladakh. While J&K is a union territory with an assembly, just like Delhi and Puducherry, Ladakh is headed by a lieutenant governor, like Chandigarh and Lakshadweep.
In 2020, the elections for the District Development Council were held and in 2024 the Lok Sabha elections across the UT took place. However, no assembly polls have been held in the union territory so far.
In May 2022, the newly redrawn boundaries, names, and the number of assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, as ordered by the delimitation commission, came into effect.
Out of the 90 assembly constituencies in the region, 43 will be part of the Jammu region and 47 of Kashmir. The delimitation panel gave six additional assembly seats to the Jammu region and one to Kashmir.
Further, the electoral rolls revision for the UT was also done and the final version was published in November 2022, with the highest-ever addition of more than 7.72 lakh voters.
It had 83.59 lakh electors – 42.91 lakh males, 40.67 lakh females, and 184 from the third gender. Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the rolls were updated to 86.93 lakh voters – 44.35 lakh men and 42.58 lakh women.
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