Srinagar, Aug 20 (KB): Notification for the first phase of Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections was issued today by the Election Commission of India.
The polling for the first phase is scheduled on September 18. This has been a giant step after the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 which bifurcated the state as UTs—Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
According to the notification, a copy with the news aggregator—Kashmir Bulletin (KB), reads the announcement stands in tandem with Section 14(2) of the Reorganisation Act, which warrants a Legislative Assembly in Jammu & Kashmir. The process of delimitation commenced with the formulation of the Delimitation Commission on 6 March 2020, and ended on 5 May 2022.
It also referred to the Sub-Section 1 of Section 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and announced that the schedule of elections in the constituencies has been drawn up based on proposals from the Election Commission of India. In the first phase, 24 assembly seats will be covered. It will include constituencies like Pampore, Tral, Pulwama, and Rajpora, among others.
This electoral exercise has been a significant step forward in democratic development of the UT which is heading for the first time towards formation of its Legislative Assembly.—(KB)