The elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases starting September 18. The second and third phase will be conducted on September 25 and October 1. Votes will be counted on October 4, the Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Friday.

The Election Commission recently visited Jammu and Kashmir to assess election readiness. At a press conference today, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the poll panel team felt an enthusiasm among voters. The voter turnout in J&K during the recent Lok Sabha elections reached a new peak witnessing 30 point jump in poll participation, he said.

Last month in Srinagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised that elections would be held soon and that statehood would be reinstated.

The CEC said that the polling will be held for all 90 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir. Over 87 lakh voters will be eligible to participate in the J&K assembly election. The final electoral roll will be published on August 20, the day after the Amarnath Yatra ends, Kumar said and promised that people will be able to vote in an atmosphere free of fear or intimidation.

The Supreme Court had directed the poll body to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been without an elected government since 2018, by September 30. The court was hearing petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 and the division of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. While the court upheld the decision on Article 370, it urged that measures be taken to establish a democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir and to restore its statehood as soon as possible.

Last week, Kumar said that the commission is committed to holding timely elections in Jammu and Kashmir, adding that the region will respond strongly to “disruptive forces.”

National Conference leader and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah welcomed the announced but questioned the reshuffle of senior police officers in the region.

“After 1987-88 this is probably for the first time an election is happening in phases… it will be a new experience. For National Conference, I can say we have been preparing…” he said.

“The EC emphasised free and fair polls… we wrote to the poll body on police transfers in the past 24 hours. They should take notice. We fear this was done to benefit the centre and the BJP.”

Since its bifurcation into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019 and the revocation of its special status under Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir has been governed by the Lieutenant Governor.

In May 2022, the Delimitation Commission redrew constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, a move that opposition parties argued benefits the BJP. The government defended the commission as part of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which was enacted by Parliament in 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370.

The commission revised the boundaries of 90 assembly and five parliamentary constituencies. The restructured Jammu and Kashmir assembly now has 114 seats, with 24 reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Voting will be conducted for 90 seats: 43 in the Jammu region and 47 in the Kashmir Valley.

In 2014, Jammu and Kashmir, then a state, conducted elections for its 87 assembly seats over five phases from November 25 to December 20. Despite calls for a boycott from hardline regional parties, voter turnout was 65%. At the time, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his party, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, severed their alliance with the Congress.

After no single party won a majority, Omar Abdullah resigned, and for a brief period, President’s Rule was enforced until the BJP aligned with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and both parties decided on a chief minister. On March 1, 2015, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was sworn in as Jammu and Kashmir’s chief minister.

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away on January 7, 2016, leading to a brief period of Governor’s Rule. Mehbooba Mufti, PDP leader and Sayeed’s daughter, then assumed the role of chief minister.

In June 2018, the BJP withdrew from its alliance with the PDP, leading to the collapse of the coalition government and Mehbooba Mufti’s resignation. Despite attempts by several regional parties, including the PDP and the Socially Responsible Citizens Party (SLCP), to form a new government, Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the state assembly.

On December 20, 2018, President’s Rule was imposed in the state. A year later, Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood was revoked with the abrogation of Article 370.