Election Roadmap Unveiled: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar addresses the media, detailing the upcoming assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
For the first time in ten years, Jammu and Kashmir will witness assembly elections, marking a significant political event since the last elections held in 2014. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced on Friday that the elections will be conducted in three phases, with voting scheduled for September 18, 25, and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 4.
Rajiv Kumar highlighted the region’s embrace of the democratic process, noting that the people of Jammu and Kashmir “chose ballots over bullets.” This was evident in the recent parliamentary elections, where voter turnout reached 58.46%, the highest in 35 years.
Jammu and Kashmir, which has a total of 90 Assembly constituencies, including 74 general, nine reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST), and seven for Scheduled Castes (SC), has 87.09 lakh registered voters, with 44.46 lakh male and 42.62 lakh female voters.
In preparation for the elections, the Election Commission has directed the Union Territory administration to transfer officers from their home districts, a standard procedure to ensure fairness. This directive is part of the Commission’s policy to prevent officers from serving in their home districts or areas where they have served for extended periods.
In a related development, the Jammu and Kashmir administration implemented a major reshuffle in the police force, transferring several senior officers and appointing a new chief for the intelligence wing. This followed the recent appointment of senior IPS officer Nalin Prabhat as the Special DG of Jammu and Kashmir Police, who will assume leadership after R.R. Swain’s retirement on September 30.
Reflecting on the robust political participation in the region, Kumar stated, “During Lok Sabha elections in J&K, people were eager to participate… There was thriving political participation throughout the election… We want the layers of democracy to be strengthened in J&K.”
The last assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, including Ladakh, were conducted in five phases in 2014, and this year’s election is expected to follow a similar multi-phase format. The elections come after Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority region, had its special status revoked by the central government in 2019, resulting in its reorganization into two Union Territories. The election panel reports that nearly 9 million people are registered to vote in the upcoming election for the 90-member legislative assembly.
