New Delhi: The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for Assembly elections in Jammu Kashmir and Haryana here on Friday.
The voting will take place in Jammu and Kashmir in three phases on September 18 in the first phase, September 25 in the second phase and 1st October in the third and final phase. Counting will be held on 4th October.
There are 90 seats in the J&K Assembly post delimitation, with 43 seats in the Jammu region and 47 seats in Kashmir.
J&K has been without an elected House for five years since the abrogation of Article 370.
Election will be held in Jammu and Kashmir 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 Haryana the voting will take place in a single phase on October 1, and the counting of votes will be held on October 4. The term of the Haryana Assembly is ending in November.
The announcement was made by the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, after visiting both J&K and Haryana to review poll preparations recently.
Addressing a press conference, Rajiv Kumar said the total number of electors in Jammu and Kashmir is 87.09 lakh. Out of which, 44.46 Lakh are men and 42.62 lakh are female voters. 3.71 lakh are first-time voters and 20.7 lakh are young voters".
"Of the 90 assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, 74 are general, SC-7 and ST-9" he said.
The CEC said the Amarnath Yatra will end on August 19 and the final voter list will also be published on August 20."
When asked about the recent terror attack in Jammu Kashmir, the CEC said that we will provide all necessary security arrangements as sought by the administration.
He added that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are really to accept the challenge posed by the terrorists.
On the Lok Sabha election held in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajiv Kumar said, "The long queues at the polling booth in the UT during the Lok Sabha election are proof that people not only want change but also want to raise their voice by becoming a part of that change".
"This glimpse of hope and democracy shows that the people want to change the picture. They want to write their own destiny. The people of Jammu and Kashmir chose a ballot over a bullet in the the Lok Sabha election" he further added.
On August 14, the Election Commission held a meeting with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla to review the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
In December last year, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to conclude the election process in the Union territory by September 30, 2024.
