NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the long-awaited assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), marking the first such exercise in the region since 2014.
The elections will be held in three phases on September 18, September 25, and October 1, with the counting of votes scheduled for October 4, 2024. Haryana will also hold its assembly elections during the same period, from September 18 to October 1.
This election is significant as it will be the first major electoral process after the 2024 national elections, and the first in J&K since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019. The region has been under Governor’s Rule since June 2018, when the BJP withdrew its support from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-led coalition government, leading to the dissolution of the assembly.
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The elections in J&K will be conducted in three phases to ensure security and smooth management. The first phase will take place on September 18, the second on September 25, and the third on October 1. The counting of votes will happen on October 4, setting the stage for the formation of a new government in the region.
The announcement of the election dates has been met with enthusiasm in J&K, where people have long been waiting for the return of an elected government. Kumar, a senior official, highlighted this sentiment, stating, “People want elections to be conducted as early as possible.
The long queues at polling booths during the Lok Sabha elections are proof that people not only want change but also want to raise their voices 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.”
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The Union government’s recent amendments to the J&K Reorganisation Act have sparked debate. These changes, made in July, expanded the powers of the Lieutenant Governor (LG) in the region, including authority over police, public order, postings, and prosecution sanctions.
Critics argue that this move undermines the authority of the chief minister, reducing the role to a “powerless, rubber-stamp” figure who must rely on the LG for administrative matters.
J&K has been without an elected government since June 2018. In August 2019, the Indian government revoked Article 370 of the Constitution, stripping J&K of its special status and bifurcating it into two Union Territories—J&K with a legislative assembly, and Ladakh without one.
This decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2023, which also directed the ECI to conduct assembly elections in J&K by September 30, 2024, and urged the Union government to restore statehood to the region “as soon as possible.”