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90 seats[a] in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly 46 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 63.88% (2.03%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legislative Assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir from 18 September to 1 October 2024 in 3 phases to elect 90 members[a] of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. The votes will be counted and the results will be declared on 8 October 2024.
This is the first assembly election since the territory's special status was revoked, its statehood withdrawn,[1][2] martial curfew imposed and over 300 political leaders detained or under house arrest in 2019.[3][4][5] Indian government indefinitely suspended elections, for stabilizing the conditions in Kashmir Valley due to the decades long ongoing armed insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. Until a Supreme Court plea challenging this was brought forward by Panthers Party in May 2023,[6][7] which in December 2023 judges ruled in favor off directing the Election Commission of India to restore the democratic process by 30 September 2024,[8] following a gap of 10 years. The order also supported the revocation of article 370 and deemed it to be within the laws set by the constitution.
Foreign diplomats were allowed to observe the election but foreign journalists were banned.[9]
The previous assembly elections were held in November–December 2014. After the election, coalition of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party and Bharatiya Janata Party formed the state government, with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed becoming the Chief Minister.[10][11]
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed died on 7 January 2016.[12] After a brief period of Governor's rule, Mehbooba Mufti was sworn in as the next Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.[13]
In June 2018, BJP withdrew its support to the PDP-led government[14] and Governor's rule was subsequently imposed in Jammu and Kashmir.[15] In November 2018, the state assembly was dissolved by Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik.[16] despite the fact that many political parties had written to the Governor expressing their willingness to form the Government.[17] President's rule was imposed on 20 December 2018.[18]
In 2019, Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated[19] and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was passed to reconstitute the state of Jammu and Kashmir into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh with effect from 31 October 2019.[20] The changes allowed Hindu refugees residing in Jammu who were displaced from Pakistan following Partition in 1947 to vote in state elections.[21]
In March 2020, a three-member Delimitation Commission was formed, chaired by retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, for the delimitation of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.[22] The commission published its interim report in February 2022.[23] The final delimitation report was released on 5 May 2022 under which additional 6 seats were added to Jammu division and 1 seat to Kashmir division. After delimitation, the total seats in the assembly rose to 114 seats, out of which 24 seats are designated for areas that fall under Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Out of the remaining 90 seats, 43 seats are in Jammu division and 47 seats are in the Kashmir division.[24] The final delimitation report came into force from 20 May 2022.[25]
In 2020, DDC elections were held after revocation of special status. People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) secured 110 seats, while BJP was the single largest party with 75 seats.[26]
On 11 December 2023, the Supreme Court in its verdict upheld the abrogation of article 370 as constitutional and ordered the Election Commission of India to hold legislative assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir before 30 September 2024.[27][28]
The parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2023 which provides for reservation of 7 seats for the Scheduled Castes and 9 seats for the Scheduled Tribes.[29][30]
The schedule of the election was announced by the Election Commission of India on 16 August 2024.[31][32] The date of counting of votes was postponed from 4 October to 8 October.[33][34]
Poll event | Phase | ||
---|---|---|---|
I | II | III | |
Notification date | 20 August | 29 August | 5 September |
Last date for filing nomination | 27 August | 5 September | 12 September |
Scrutiny of nomination | 28 August | 6 September | 13 September |
Last date for withdrawal of nomination | 30 August | 9 September | 17 September |
Date of poll | 18 September | 25 September | 1 October |
Date of counting of votes | 8 October 2024 | ||
No. of constituencies | 24 | 26 | 40 |
Alliance between Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Indian National Congress, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party and Communist Party of India (Marxist) was announced on 22 August 2024.[35][36] The seat sharing was finalized on 26 August 2024 with friendly contest on 6 seats between alliance partners.[37][38]
Party | Flag | Symbol | Leader | Seats contesting | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference | Farooq Abdullah | 56[b] | |||
Indian National Congress | Tariq Hameed Karra | 38[b] | |||
Communist Party of India (Marxist) | Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami | 1 |
Party | Flag | Symbol | Leader | Seats contesting | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bharatiya Janata Party | Ravinder Raina | 62 |
Party | Flag | Symbol | Leader | Seats contesting | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party | Mehbooba Mufti | 81 |
Party | Flag | Symbol | Leader | Seats contested | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party | Altaf Bukhari | 46 | |||
Bahujan Samaj Party | Darshan Rana[39] | 27 | |||
Democratic Progressive Azad Party | Ghulam Nabi Azad | 23[40] | |||
Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference | Sajjad Gani Lone | 15 | |||
Aam Aadmi Party | Mehraj Malik | 7[41] | |||
Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party | Harsh Dev Singh | 4[c] | |||
Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement | Mohammed Hussain Padder[42] | ||||
Jammu and Kashmir Awami National Conference | Khalida Begum[43] | ||||
Jammu and Kashmir Awami Ittehad Party | Engineer Rashid[44] | Multiple seats in Kashmir Valley. (In some places in alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir.) |
JKNC released the first list of 18 candidates on 26 August;[45] the second list of 32 candidates on 27 August;[46] the third list of four candidates on 8 September.[47]
INC released the first list of 9 candidates on 26 August;[48] the second list of 6 candidates on 2 September;[49] the third list of 19 candidates on 9 September.[50]
BJP released the first list of 15 candidates[51] and the second list of one candidate on 26 August;[52] the third list of 29 candidates on 27 August;[53] the fourth list of 6 candidates on 2 September.[54] BJP released sixth list of 10 candidates on 8 September.[55]
JKPDP announced 25 candidates on 26 August;[56] 17 candidates on 28 August;[57] 4 candidates on 29 August;[58] 8 candidates on 30 August;[59] 6 candidates on 1 September;[60] 2 candidates on 3 September;[61] 1 candidate on 6 September.[62]
District | Voting Date[63][64] | Constituency | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
INDIA | BJP | JKPDP | ||||||||||
Kupwara | 1 October 2024 | 1 | Karnah | JKNC | Javid Mirchal | BJP | Mohammad Idrees Karnahi | JKPDP | Firdous Ahmed Mir | |||
2 | Trehgam | JKNC | Mir Saifullah | JKPDP | Mohammad Afzal Wani | |||||||
3 | Kupwara | JKNC | Nasir Aslam Wani | |||||||||
4 | Lolab | JKNC | Qaiser Jamsheed Lone | JKPDP | Abdul Haq Khan | |||||||
5 | Handwara | JKNC | Chowdary Mohammad Ramzan | BJP | Ghulam Mohammad Mir | JKPDP | Mir Azad Parwaz | |||||
6 | Langate | INC | Irshad Ab Gani | JKPDP | Syed Gh Nabi Bukhari | |||||||
Baramulla | 7 | Sopore | JKNC | Irshad Rasool Kar | JKPDP | Irfan Ali Lone | ||||||
INC | Haji Abdul Rashid Dar | |||||||||||
8 | Rafiabad | JKNC | Javid Ahmed Dar | JKPDP | Altaf Ahmed Malik | |||||||
9 | Uri | JKNC | Shahzad Shafi | |||||||||
10 | Baramulla | JKNC | Javid Hassan Baig | JKPDP | Mohammad Rafique Rather | |||||||
INC | Mir Iqbal | |||||||||||
11 | Gulmarg | JKNC | Farooq Ahmad Shah | |||||||||
12 | Wagoora–Kreeri | INC | Irfan Hafeez Lone | JKPDP | Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari | |||||||
13 | Pattan | JKNC | Javid Reyaz Bedar | JKPDP | Javaid Iqbal Ganaie | |||||||
Bandipora | 14 | Sonawari | JKNC | Hilal Akbar Lone | BJP | Abdul Rashid Khan | JKPDP | Tahir Qadri | ||||
15 | Bandipora | INC | Nizamuddin Bhat | BJP | Nasir Ahmad Lone | JKPDP | Syed Tajamul Islam | |||||
16 | Gurez (ST) | JKNC | Nazir Ahmad Gurezi | BJP | Fakir Mohammad Khan | |||||||
Ganderbal | 25 September 2024 | 17 | Kangan (ST) | JKNC | Mian Mehar Ali | JKPDP | Syed Jamaat Ali Shaheen | |||||
18 | Ganderbal | JKNC | Omar Abdullah | JKPDP | Bashir Ahmed Mir | |||||||
Srinagar | 19 | Hazratbal | JKNC | Salman Ali Sagar | JKPDP | Asiea Naqash | ||||||
20 | Khanyar | JKNC | Ali Mohammad Sagar | JKPDP | Tafazul Mushtaq | |||||||
21 | Habba Kadal | JKNC | Shamim Firdous | BJP | Ashok Bhat | JKPDP | Arif Laigroo | |||||
22 | Lal Chowk | JKNC | Ahsan Pardesi | BJP | Er. Aijaz Hussain | JKPDP | Zuhaib Yousf Mir | |||||
23 | Chanapora | JKNC | Mushtaq Guroo | BJP | Hilal Ahmad Wani[65] | JKPDP | Mohammad Iqbal Trumboo | |||||
24 | Zadibal | JKNC | Tanvir Sadiq | JKPDP | Sheikh Gowher Ali | |||||||
25 | Eidgah | JKNC | Mubarak Gul | BJP | Arif Raja | JKPDP | Mohammad Khursheed Alam | |||||
26 | Central Shalteng | INC | Tariq Hameed Karra | |||||||||
Budgam | 27 | Budgam | JKNC | Omar Abdullah | JKPDP | Aga. Syed Munatzir Mehdi | ||||||
28 | Beerwah | JKNC | Mohammed Shafi Wani | JKPDP | Haji Gh Ahmed Khan | |||||||
29 | Khan Sahib | JKNC | Saif-Ud-Din Bhat | BJP | Ali Mohammad Mir | JKPDP | Manzoor Ahmed Wani | |||||
30 | Charar-i-Sharif | JKNC | Abdul Rahim Rather | BJP | Zahid Hussain | JKPDP | Ghulam Nabi Lone | |||||
31 | Chadoora | JKNC | Ali Mohammad Dar | |||||||||
Pulwama | 18 September 2024 | 32 | Pampore | JKNC | Hasnain Masoodi | BJP | Syed Showkat Gayoor Andrabi | JKPDP | Waheed-ur Rehman Parra | |||
33 | Tral | INC | Surinder Singh Channi | JKPDP | Rafiq Ahmed Naik | |||||||
34 | Pulwama | JKNC | Mohammad Khalil Bandh | JKPDP | Waheed Para | |||||||
35 | Rajpora | JKNC | Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Mir | BJP | Arshid Bhat | JKPDP | Syed Bashir Ahmed | |||||
Shopian | 36 | Zainapora | JKNC | Showkat Hussain Ganie | ||||||||
37 | Shopian | JKNC | Sheikh Mohammad Rafi | BJP | Javed Ahmad Qadri | JKPDP | Yawar Bandey | |||||
Kulgam | 38 | D. H. Pora | JKNC | Sakina Itoo | ||||||||
39 | Kulgam | CPI(M) | Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami | JKPDP | Mohd Amin Dar | |||||||
40 | Devsar | JKNC | Peerzada Feroze Ahmad | JKPDP | Sartaj Ahmed Madani | |||||||
INC | Amanullah Mantoo | |||||||||||
Anantnag | 41 | Dooru | INC | Ghulam Ahmad Mir | JKPDP | Mohd Ashraf Malik | ||||||
42 | Kokernag (ST) | JKNC | Chowdary Zaffer Ahmad | BJP | Roshan Hussain Gujjar | JKPDP | Haroon Rashid Khatana | |||||
43 | Anantnag West | JKNC | Abdul Majeed Larmi | BJP | Mohammad Rafiq Wani | JKPDP | Abdul Gaffar Sofi | |||||
44 | Anantnag | INC | Peerzada Mohammad Syed | BJP | Syed Wajahat | JKPDP | Mehboob Baig | |||||
45 | Srigufwara–Bijbehara | JKNC | Bashir Ahmad Veeri | BJP | Sofi Yousuf | JKPDP | Iltija Mufti | |||||
46 | Shangus–Anantnag East | JKNC | Reyaz Ahmad Khan | BJP | Veer Saraf | JKPDP | Abdul Rehman Veeri | |||||
47 | Pahalgam | JKNC | Altaf Ahmad Kaloo | |||||||||
Kishtwar | 48 | Inderwal | INC | Sheikh Zafarullah | BJP | Tariq Hussain Keen | JKPDP | Nasir Hussain Sheikh | ||||
49 | Kishtwar | JKNC | Sajad Kichloo | BJP | Shagun Parihar | JKPDP | Firdous Ahmad Tak | |||||
50 | Padder–Nagseni | JKNC | Pooja Thakur | BJP | Sunil Kumar Sharma | |||||||
Doda | 51 | Bhadarwah | JKNC | Mehboob Iqbal | BJP | Daleep Singh Parihar | ||||||
INC | Nadeem Sharief | |||||||||||
52 | Doda | JKNC | Khalid Najeeb Soharwardy | BJP | Gajay Singh Rana | JKPDP | Mansoor Ahmed Bhat | |||||
INC | Sheikh Riyaz | |||||||||||
53 | Doda West | INC | Pradeep Kumar Bhagat | BJP | Shakti Raj Parihar | |||||||
Ramban | 54 | Ramban | JKNC | Arjun Singh Raju | BJP | Rakesh Singh Thakur | ||||||
55 | Banihal | JKNC | Sajad Shaheen | BJP | Salim Bhat | |||||||
INC | Vikar Rasool Wani | |||||||||||
Reasi | 25 September 2024 | 56 | Gulabgarh (ST) | JKNC | Engineer Khursheed | BJP | Mohammad Akram Chaudhary | JKPDP | Farooq Inqilabi | |||
57 | Reasi | INC | Mumtaz Khan | BJP | Kuldeep Raj Dubey | JKPDP | Bodh Raj Meania | |||||
58 | Shri Mata Vaishno Devi | INC | Bhupender Jamwal | BJP | Baldev Raj Sharma | JKPDP | Pratap Krishan Sharma | |||||
Udhampur | 1 October 2024 | 59 | Udhampur West | INC | Summit Mangotra | BJP | Pawan Kumar Gupta | |||||
60 | Udhampur East | JKNC | Sunil Verma | BJP | Ranbir Singh Pathania | |||||||
61 | Chenani | JKNPP(I) | Harsh Dev Singh | BJP | Balwant Singh Mankotia | |||||||
62 | Ramnagar (SC) | INC | Mool Raj | BJP | Sunil Bhardwaj | |||||||
Kathua | 63 | Bani | INC | Kajal Rajput | BJP | Jeevan Lal | JKPDP | Romesh Chandar Verma | ||||
64 | Billawar | INC | Manohar Lal Sharma | BJP | Satish Sharma | JKPDP | Akhter Ali | |||||
65 | Basohli | INC | Chaudhary Lal Singh | BJP | Darshan Singh | JKPDP | Joginder Singh | |||||
66 | Jasrota | INC | Thakur Balbir Singh | BJP | Rajiv Jasrotia | |||||||
67 | Kathua (SC) | JKNC | Subash Chander Azad | BJP | Bharat Bhushan | |||||||
68 | Hiranagar | INC | Rakesh Choudhary Jatt | BJP | Vijay Kumar Sharma | JKPDP | Vishal Salgotra | |||||
Samba | 69 | Ramgarh (SC) | INC | Yashpal Kundal | BJP | Devinder Kumar Maniyal | ||||||
70 | Samba | INC | Krishan Dev Singh | BJP | Surjit Singh Slathia | JKPDP | Rajender Manhas | |||||
71 | Vijaypur | JKNC | Rajesh Pargotra | BJP | Chandra Prakash Ganga | JKPDP | Bachan Lal | |||||
Jammu | 72 | Bishnah (SC) | INC | Neeraj Kundan | BJP | Rajeev Bhagat | ||||||
73 | Suchetgarh (SC) | INC | Bhushan Dogra | BJP | Gharu Ram Bhagat | |||||||
74 | R. S. Pura–Jammu South | INC | Raman Bhalla | BJP | Narinder Singh Raina | JKPDP | Narendra Shamra | |||||
75 | Bahu | INC | T.S. Tony | BJP | Vikram Randhawa | JKPDP | Verinder Singh Sonu | |||||
76 | Jammu East | INC | Yogesh Sawhney | BJP | Yudhvir Sethi | JKPDP | Aditya Gupta | |||||
77 | Nagrota | JKNC | Joginder Singh | BJP | Devinder Singh Rana | |||||||
INC | Balbir Singh | |||||||||||
78 | Jammu West | INC | Thakur Manmohan Singh | BJP | Arvind Gupta | JKPDP | Rajat Gupta | |||||
79 | Jammu North | JKNC | Ajay Kumar Sadhotra | BJP | Sham Lal Sharma | JKPDP | Darshan Mangotra | |||||
80 | Marh (SC) | INC | Mula Ram | BJP | Surinder Bhagat | |||||||
81 | Akhnoor (SC) | INC | Ashok Bhagat | BJP | Mohan Lal Bhagat | |||||||
82 | Chhamb | INC | Tara Chand | BJP | Rajiv Sharma | |||||||
Rajouri | 25 September 2024 | 83 | Kalakote–Sunderbani | JKNC | Yashu Vardhan Singh | BJP | Thakur Randhir Singh | JKPDP | Syed Majid Shah | |||
84 | Nowshera | JKNC | Surinder Chowdary | BJP | Ravinder Raina | JKPDP | Haq Nawaz | |||||
85 | Rajouri (ST) | INC | Iftkar Ahmed | BJP | Vibodh Gupta | JKPDP | Tasaduq Hussain | |||||
86 | Budhal (ST) | JKNC | Javid Chowdary | BJP | Chowdary Zulfikar Ali | JKPDP | Guftar Ahmed Choudhary | |||||
87 | Thannamandi (ST) | INC | Shabir Ahmad Khan | BJP | Mohammad Iqbal Malik | JKPDP | Qamar Hussain Choudhary | |||||
Poonch | 88 | Surankote (ST) | INC | Mohd Shahnawaz Choudhary | BJP | Syed Mushtaq Ahmad Bukhari | JKPDP | Javid Choudhary | ||||
89 | Poonch Haveli | JKNC | Ajaz Ahmad Jan | BJP | Chowdary Abdul Ghani | JKPDP | Shamim Ganai | |||||
90 | Mendhar (ST) | JKNC | Javed Rana | BJP | Murtaza Khan | JKPDP | Mahroof Khan |
Diplomats from 16 countries, including the United States and Russia, are expected to observe the voting in Srinagar.[66]
Phase | Date | Seats | Turnout (%) |
---|---|---|---|
I | 18 September | 24 | 61.38[67] |
II | 25 September | 26 | 57.31[68] |
III | 1 October | 40 | 69.69[69] |
Total | 90 | 63.88[70] |
Exit polls were released on 5 October 2024.
Polling Agency | Lead | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
INDIA | NDA | JKPDP | Others | ||
India Today - C Voter | 40-48 | 27-32 | 06-12 | 06-11 | 0-13 |
People Pulse | 46-50 | 23-27 | 07-11 | 04-06 | 0-17 |
Axis My India | 35-45 | 24-34 | 04-06 | 08-23 | Hung |
Gulistan News | 31-36 | 28-30 | 05-07 | 06-16 | Hung |
Polling Agency | Lead | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
INDIA | NDA | JKPDP | Others | ||
India Today - C Voter | 38.7% | 22.9% | 10.2% | 28.2% | 15.8% |
People Pulse | 43% | 24% | 16% | 17% | 19% |
Axis My India | 38% | 21% | 9% | 32% | 6% |
Alliance/ Party | Popular vote | Seats | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | ±pp | Contested | Won | +/− | ||||
INDIA | Jammu and Kashmir National Conference | 56 | |||||||
Indian National Congress | 38 | ||||||||
Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (India) | 3 | ||||||||
Communist Party of India (Marxist) | 1 | ||||||||
Total | 98 | ||||||||
Bharatiya Janata Party | 62 | ||||||||
Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party | 81 | ||||||||
Other parties | |||||||||
Independents | |||||||||
NOTA | |||||||||
Total | 100% | - | - | 90 |
Division | Seats | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
INDIA | BJP | JKPDP | Others | ||
Kashmir | 47 | ||||
Jammu | 43 | ||||
Total | 90 |
Division | District | Seats | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
INDIA | BJP | JKPDP | Others | |||
Kashmir | Kupwara | 6 | ||||
Baramulla | 7 | |||||
Bandipora | 3 | |||||
Ganderbal | 2 | |||||
Srinagar | 8 | |||||
Budgam | 5 | |||||
Pulwama | 4 | |||||
Shopian | 2 | |||||
Kulgam | 3 | |||||
Anantnag | 7 | |||||
Jammu | Kishtwar | 3 | ||||
Doda | 3 | |||||
Ramban | 2 | |||||
Reasi | 3 | |||||
Udhampur | 4 | |||||
Kathua | 6 | |||||
Samba | 3 | |||||
Jammu | 11 | |||||
Rajouri | 5 | |||||
Poonch | 3 | |||||
Total | 90 |
On 18 September 2024, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari categorically rejected the J&K legislative assembly elections in the Indian-administered Kashmir asserting that the polls were "no substitute for the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination".[71]
The defense minister of Pakistan Khawaja Asif stated that there is a high chance the INDIA bloc may come to power and that the bloc and the country are on the same page when it comes to the problems of Article 350 and 35A. This attracted a series of controversy with the BJP leader and Home Minister of India Amit Shah saying "The Congress has always been hand in glove with anti-national forces." BJP leaders further accused the INDIA bloc of being anti-nationalist forces and received endorsements from the Pakistan government.[72][73][74] JKNC leader Omar Abdullah reacted to Asif's remarks, saying “I don’t know what Pakistan says. I am not a Pakistani, I am an Indian citizen.”[75]