National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Friday announced his candidature for the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. He said that his son and party vice-president Omar Abdullah will not contest this year’s elections. Farooq Abdullah said that Omar Abdullah will contest the elections after the restoration of statehood.
“We want statehood. This is not only the demand of the National Conference but of all parties in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian government has also promised that the statehood will be fully restored,” Farooq Abdullah told reporters.
While giving information about his party’s election preparations, Omar Abdullah said that the National Conference is fully prepared for the elections and will soon start its campaign. Addressing a press conference, Omar said, “The elections are being held on time, though delayed. The Election Commission has announced the dates for the elections in three phases. This is the first time after 1987-1988 that elections are being held in so few phases in Jammu and Kashmir.”
According to the election schedule released by the Election Commission, the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held in three phases – September 18, September 25 and October 1. The election results will be declared on October 4. There are a total of 90 assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, of which 74 are general, 9 Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 7 Scheduled Castes (SC).
There are a total of 87.09 lakh voters in the state, which includes 44.46 lakh men, 42.62 lakh women, 169 transgenders, 82,590 PWDs, 73,943 very senior citizens, 2,660 centenarians, 76,092 service voters and 3.71 lakh first-time voters.
The Supreme Court had directed the Centre in December 2023 to complete the election process by September 30, 2024. This is a crucial time for assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, as elections have not been held here for the last ten years. The last assembly elections were held in 2014, and the PDP-BJP coalition government fell in June 2018 after the BJP withdrew support to former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.