J-K Assembly Polls: EC issues notification for 24 seats voting in first phase on September 18. Full details here

The nomination process for the first phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir began on August 20 with the issuance of official notification. As many as 24 seats across six districts of the erstwhile state are voting in the first phase on September 18.

The last date for filing submission of nominations for this phase is August 27, followed by the scrutiny of nominations the next day. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is August 13, and polling will be held on September 18, according to the schedule prepared by Election Commission of India.

Jammu and Kashmiris all set to hold its first Assembly elections in a decade to elect a government after over six years of Central rule.

Voting will be held in three phases with first round on September 18. The next two phases will be held on September 25 and October 1. The results will be announced on October 4.

The final electoral rolls for the upcoming assembly elections in the Union Territory are also likely to be issued today, with the number of voters expected to be close to 90 lakhs.

The roll is significant since the boundaries of many assembly constituencies have been changed following the delimitation exercise and the increase in the number of assembly seats from 83 to 90 across Jammu and Kashmir.

There are 87.09 lakh voters in Jammu and Kashmir, of which 44.46 lakh are male, 42.62 lakh are female, 3.71 lakh are first-time voters, and 20.7 lakh are young voters.

Out of 90 assembly constituencies in the UT, 74 are general, 7 are reserved for SC candidates, and 9 are reserved for ST candidates.

This will be the shortest polling period in any assembly elections held in Jammu and Kashmir since 2002 polls when  the polls were held in four phases. In 2008 the election were held in seven phases while in 2014 the polling for assembly elections was held in five phases in Jammu and Kashmir.

The PDP-BJP government formed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014 could not last the full 6-year term as BJP withdrew its support to former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in 2018. Since then, the erstwhile state has been under central rule.