JAMMU — After a gap of 10 years, finally the electoral process for Jammu and Kashmir has begun with the Election Commission of India (ECI) issuing the notification for the first phase of Legislative Assembly elections today.
A total of 24 Assembly constituencies, out of 90 seats, will be going to polls in the first phase, which include districts of Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian and Kulgam of the Kashmir valley, whereas Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts of the Jammu region.
In a statement issued to the news agency KNO, the ECI said that the last date of filing of nomination papers will be on August 27, whereas scrutiny of papers will be done on August 28. The ECI has kept August 30 as the last date for withdrawal of nominations, and the polling will be held on September 18, and the polling will be conducted from 07:00 AM to 06:00 PM, the notification reads.
During the first phase 16 constituencies of south Kashmir comprising Pampore (32), Tral (33), Pulwama (34), Rajpora (35), Zainapora (36), Shopian (37), D.H. Pora (38), Kulgam (39), Devsar (40), Dooru (41), Kokernag (ST) (42), Anantnag West (43), Anantnag (44), Srigufwara – Bijbehara (45), Shangus – Anantnag East (46), Pahalgam (47) and eight constituencies of Jammu Division comprising Inderwal (48), Kishtwar (49), Padder – Nagseni (50), Bhadarwah(51), Doda (52), Doda West (53), Ramban (54) and Banihal (55) will go for polls.
Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Anantnag constituency in the year 2014, but this time, as she has decided not to contest the Assembly elections, the field will be open for a few new leaders. South Kashmir has remained a stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but this time during Parliamentary elections, National Conference (NC) managed to get more votes as compared to PDP. It will be a herculean task for the PDP to retain its ground and that too at a time when many leaders are planning to quit due to some internal issues.
The polling day for these Assembly constituencies is scheduled for September 18, 2024, and the polling will be conducted from 07:00 AM to 06:00 PM, the notification reads.
Meanwhile, all three constituencies of Kishtwar district, Kishtwar, Inderwal and Nagseni-Padder, three seats of Doda district, Doda, Doda West and Bhaderwah and two seats of Ramban district, Ramban and Banihal, will be going for polls.
So far, only PDP has given mandate to Sheikh Nasir Hussain from Inderwal and Sandesh Kumar from Nagseni-Padder, whereas other political parties are yet to announce their candidates.
In a couple of days, a clear picture would emerge as to who will fight from which seat and if Congress and National Conference (NC) forge an alliance, it would be interesting to see how they will go for seat sharing in Chenab valley, where on many seats, NC and Congress used to be traditional rivals.
Few important leaders who have contested the 2014 Assembly elections from Chenab valley include former PCC President Vikar Rasool Wani from Banihal, Sunil Sharma from Kishtwar, Ghulam Muhammad Saroori from Inderwal, Shakti Parihar, Abdul Majeed Wani and Khalid Najeeb Suharwardy from Doda and Daleep Singh Parihar and Mehboob Iqbal from Bhaderwah.
This time, a few new entrants are expected to be fielded by different political parties who have been working on the ground, with the addition of two new seats. This will make the contest interesting, and with the area going to the polls in the first phase, this will set the tone for the next two phases.
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