J-K Assembly polls: Election schedule, key candidates, issues. Details

The last Assembly elections took place in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, but the government fell in 2018 when the BJP withdrew its support from Mehbooba Mufti's PDP-led administration

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that Jammu and Kashmir, now a Union Territory (UT), will hold its elections in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1, 2024. The results will be declared on October 8, alongside the Haryana Assembly election results.

This marks the first election in the valley since Article 370 was abrogated and the region's "special status" was revoked, halting political activities for five years.

The last Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir took place in 2014, but the government fell in 2018 when the BJP withdrew its support from Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration.

 

Additionally, District Development Council (DDC) elections were also conducted at the end of 2020.

The Lok Sabha elections earlier this year saw an encouraging voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir, with 58.46 per cent participation—the highest in 35 years.

Key information about the 2024 Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections:

J&K 2024 elections: Assembly constituencies

Jammu and Kashmir now has 90 Assembly constituencies. The BJP plans to contest the elections independently, while the National Conference (NC) and Congress have formed an alliance. Under this alliance, NC will contest 51 seats, Congress will contest 32 seats, and there will be "friendly contests" in five constituencies. Additionally, one seat each has been allocated to CPI(M) in South Kashmir and Panthers Party in the Jammu division.

J&K 2024 elections: Which parties are contesting?

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)  

The BJP is aiming to make inroads into India’s only Muslim-majority legislature, having announced 45 candidates for the 90 seats in the region. It is uncertain if BJP will contest all the seats, but no alliances have been announced so far.

Since the abrogation of Article 370, the BJP has been active in local elections for grassroots positions but chose not to participate in the Lok Sabha elections. While not officially aligned with any party, BJP has supported several 'independent' candidates or local parties that agree with its stance on Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the revocation of the region's special status.

During the 2020 DDC elections, BJP emerged as the largest party, winning 75 of the 280 available seats. It secured six councils in the Jammu region but failed to win any in Kashmir.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s main opposition, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), could not unite against the party. As NC and PDP contested against each other for the three Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP focused on Ladakh, Udhampur, and Jammu, where it faced Congress. This strategy worked, with BJP winning both Jammu seats, while an independent candidate, Mohmad Haneefa, won Ladakh, leaving Congress without any wins.

For the upcoming elections, the BJP initially fielded 44 candidates, including several Muslims from the Pir Panjal valley. However, after protests from party workers who felt that "turncoats" were favoured over loyal members, the party made minor changes, replacing Rohit Dubey with Baldev Raj Sharma for the Vaishno Devi seat.

BJP has yet to announce a candidate for Nowshera, previously won by its State chief Ravinder Raina in 2014 and former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta in 2019.

INDI alliance – NC & Congress 

In 2020, when prominent leaders in Jammu and Kashmir were released after a year of detention, Congress’ J&K Chief Taj Mohiudin attended a meeting of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) at NC veteran Farooq Abdullah’s residence. This led to a formal alliance between six political parties—NC, PDP, PC, Congress, CPI (M), and the Awami National Conference (ANC)—to continue the fight for J&K’s special status. Initially, Congress distanced itself from the PAGD but later joined the alliance for electoral purposes, resulting in a victory in the DDC elections, where the coalition won 110 of 280 seats.

Congress later formalised the alliance under the INDIA umbrella in July 2023, bringing NC, PDP, and CPI(M) together. Although NC and PDP criticised Congress for prioritising state elections in other regions over creating a united opposition for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, they eventually agreed on a seat-sharing arrangement for the Assembly elections on August 27. NC will contest 51 seats, Congress will contest 32, with one seat each going to CPI(M) and Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party.

NC’s manifesto pledges to work towards restoring Article 370 and 35A, reinstating statehood, overturning post-2019 laws affecting J&K’s special status, providing jobs for all unemployed residents, releasing political prisoners, promoting dialogue between India and Pakistan, limiting land ownership to residents, and repealing the Public Safety Act (PSA). The first list of 32 candidates includes Omar Abdullah, who will contest from Ganderbal, reversing his earlier stance of not running until statehood is restored.

Congress has released its first list of nine candidates, with party general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir running from Dooru and former State Unit Chief Vikar Rasool Wani from Banihal. With the departure of its most prominent leader in J&K, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress is relying on ex-chief Rahul Gandhi to rally its base. During his recent visit to Srinagar,  Gandhi emphasised the importance of restoring J&K’s statehood, stating, “Running Kashmir and Jammu from Delhi doesn’t make sense.”

PDP’s outside support agenda 

Although the PDP has left the INDI alliance, Mehbooba Mufti has stated that she would still support them if they adopt PDP’s agenda. The party’s manifesto mirrors many of NC’s promises, including restoring statehood, advocating for India-Pakistan dialogue, enhancing connectivity across the Line of Control (LoC) for trade and social exchange, revoking the PSA, and reassessing "unjust" job terminations. The manifesto also commits to overturning other central laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), and Enemy Act.

Despite its support for the INDIA coalition, PDP has released a list of 21 candidates, some of whom will be running against NC candidates. Mufti has decided not to seek re-election from Anantnag, instead, her daughter Iltija will make her electoral debut from the Bijbehara constituency. PDP has ruled out any alliance with BJP, labelling the Congress-NC alliance as "power-hungry."

PC, DPAP, and Apni Party  

Three other notable parties in the race are Sajjad Lone’s J&K People’s Conference (PC), former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), and Altaf Bukhari’s J&K Apni Party.

Lone left the PAGD in 2021 due to the NC-PDP rivalry, claiming his party was sidelined during seat-sharing talks for the DDC polls. In this year’s Lok Sabha elections, he challenged  Abdullah for the Baramulla seat, reducing NC’s vote share by 173,000 votes, leading to  Rashid’s victory. His party has so far announced seven candidates for the Assembly elections.

Azad, who quit Congress in 2022 due to dissatisfaction with the party’s revival efforts, launched DPAP to enter J&K politics. Acknowledging the new reality of Kashmir without special status, he campaigned in the Lok Sabha elections on three issues—statehood, development, and criticising the politics of Abdullah and Mufti. His party did not win any seats, securing only 80,264 votes across the three constituencies it contested. Nevertheless, DPAP is fielding 13 candidates for the Assembly elections.

Altaf Bukhari, who was one of the few J&K politicians not detained in 2019, broke away from PDP along with 30 other leaders to establish the J&K Apni Party. The party’s primary demands include restoring statehood, reinstating J&K’s domicile rights, and extending Article 371 of the constitution to the region. The party performed well in the DDC polls, winning 12 seats. Now it has fielded 24 candidates, with Bukhari himself running for the Chanapora seat.

Other parties in the fray  

Smaller parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), remnants of the J&K People’s Movement (JKPM), and the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), as well as several independent candidates, are also participating in the upcoming elections.

Importance of the J&K Assembly elections

These Assembly elections are the first to be held since the state was bifurcated into two UTs and its special status revoked. Before the elections, the ECI conducted a delimitation process in 2022, designating 43 seats in the Jammu region and 47 in the Kashmir Valley. Additionally, nine seats—three in Kashmir and six in Jammu—were reserved for scheduled tribes.

In 2023, Parliament passed several bills modifying J&K’s reservation policies. One-third of the seats have been reserved for women. The Valmiki community has been added to the Scheduled Caste list in J&K, and the Pahari community has been included in the Scheduled Tribes list.

The Pahari community, which is significant in areas like Budhal, Gulabgarh, Surankote, Rajouri, Mendhar, and Thanamandi—all seats reserved for STs—can now participate in the elections.

List of 24 assembly constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir going for polls in first phase

Pampore

Tral

Pulwama

Rajpora

Zainapora

Shopian

D H Pora

Kulgam

Devsar

Dooru

Kokernag (ST)

Anantnag West

Anantnag

Srigufwara Bijbehara

Shangus Anantnag East

Pahalgam

Inderwal

Kishtwar

Padder – Nagseni

Bhadarwah

Doda

Doda West

Ramban

Banihal

List of 26 Assembly Constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir going for polls in second phase

Kangan (ST)

Ganderbal

Hazratbal

Khanyar

Habbakadal

Lal Chowk

Channapora

Zadibal

Eidgah

Central Shalteng

Budgam

Beerwah

Khansahib

Chrar-i-Sharief

Chadoora

Gulabgarh (ST)

Reasi

Shri Mata Vaishno Devi

Kalakote- Sunderbani

Nowshera

Rajouri (ST)

Budhal (ST)

Thannamandi (ST)

Surankote (ST)

Poonch Haveli

Mendhar (ST)

List of 40 Assembly Constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir going for polls in third phase

Karnah

Trehgam

Kupwara

Lolab

Handwara

Langate

Sopore

Rafiabad

Uri

Baramulla

Gulmarg

Wagoora

Kreeri

Pattan

Sonawari

Bandipora

Gurez (ST)

Udhampur West

Udhampur East

Chenani

Ramnagar (SC)

Bani

Billawar

Basohli

Jasrota

Kathua (SC)

Hiranagar

Ramgarh (SC)

Samba

Vijaypur

Bishnah (SC)

Suchetgarh (SC)

R S Pura – Jammu South

Bahu

Jammu East

Nagrota

Jammu West

Jammu North

Marh (SC)

Akhnoor (SC)

Chhamb