Jammu & Kashmir Assembly elections expected to be held next year after winter conditions subside, say sources

J&K Assembly elections: Elections in Jammu and Kashmir are expected to be held next year after winter conditions subside. The timing would depend on the security scenario in the union territory, sources said on Friday. The final electoral roll of Jammu and Kashmir was published on November 25. This is the first time polls will be conducted in the UT since the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union territories in 2019.

Taking into account the deletion of names from the electoral rolls, the net increase stood at 7,72,872 electors, they said. The final electoral rolls have a total of 83,59,771 electors - 42,91,687 males, 40,67,900 females and 184 third gender.

The harsh winter conditions may leave the poll authorities with little option but to hold the exercise in the summer of next year. Holding polls in Jammu and Kashmir entails a massive logistical exercise due to the terrain and the security situation with thousands of personnel from central armed police forces being deployed to maintain peace and ensure free and fair polls. The electoral exercise in Jammu and Kashmir is usually spread over a month. 

The latest revision of the electoral rolls was done after a gap of nearly three years. It was last carried out with reference to January 1, 2019 as the qualifying date. The electoral rolls could not be updated after the abrogation of provisions of Article 370. Later, the constituencies were redrawn following a delimitation exercise. Following the delimitation, the number of assembly seats have gone up from 83 to 90, excluding the seats allocated to Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

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