Jammu & Kashmir Elections 2024: Queues At Polling Booth As Phase 1 Voting Begins After Decade-Long Wait — Watch

The first phase of the Legislative Assembly Elections 2024 will cover 24 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) across seven districts of Jammu & Kashmir.

Jammu Kashmir Assembly Election 2024: Voting for the first phase of the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections began on Wednesday (September 18) with ballots being cast in 24 of 90 constituencies in the union territory. This is the first Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir after 10 years, and the first since the removal of Article 370 which gave the erstwhile state special status.

Multi-layered security arrangements have been put in place across seven districts--Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Shopian in Kashmir, and Ramban, Kishtwar and Doda in Jammu division-- where polling in the first phase will decide the fate of 219 candidates. This is the first time that Jammu and Kashmir will see an Assembly election as a Union Territory. When Article 370 was abrogated in 2019, the state was also divided into two Union Territories-- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

In the Kashmir Division, polling is being held in 16 assembly constituencies including, Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, Rajpora, Zainapora, Shopian, DH Pora, Kulgam, Devsar, Dooru, Kokernag (ST), Anantnag West, Anantnag, Srigufwara-Bijbehara, Shangus-Anantnag East, and Pahalgam. In the Jammu Division, polling is being held in eight assembly constituencies — Inderwal, Kishtwar, Padder-Nagseni, Bhadarwah, Doda, Doda West, Ramban, and Banihal.

According to the latest electoral rolls, 23,27,580 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots in the phase of Jammu and Kashmir polls, comprising 11,76,462 lakh male voters, 11,51,058 lakh female voters, and 60 third-gender voters. A total of 534 polling stations are spread across these constituencies, ensuring that every registered voter has the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.

Restoration of statehood has been one of the major issues in the elections, with prominent leaders and parties promising to restore it--including PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah from Bharatiya Janaya Party (BJP) as well as Rahul Gandhi from Congress and Omar Abdulla from the National Conference, which are contesting the polls in an alliance.

Another major player in the polls is Mehbooba Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party. Parties including Abdul Ghani Lone's People's Conference, Ghulam Nabi Azad's Democratic Progressive Azad Party and Altaf Bukhari's Apni Party are also expected to put up a strong fight. An interesting development is the entry in the elections of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami, which is backing some candidates.