Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand elections to be held in five phases starting November 25
New Delhi: Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand will be held in five phases between November 25 and December 20 and counting of votes will take place on December 23, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.
Polling in both states will take place on November 25 for phase 1, December 2 for phase 2, December 9 for phase 3, December 14 for phase 4 and December 20 for phase 5, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said at a press conference here.
Keeping in mind the difficult terrain and prevailing security situation in both the states, EC has announced five-phase elections.
Also, by-elections to three assembly constituencies of Delhi namely Mehroli, Krishna nagar and Tughlakabad, which fell vacant after their MLAs resigned following their victories in Lok Sabha polls, will be held on November 25.
Counting of votes for all the five phases will be held on December 23.
Brushing aside demands from some quarters, mainly the ruling National Conference, that elections in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir be postponed, Sampath said the recent calamity will have no "special impact" on polls.
He said post-flood situation, along with other aspects like climate, festivals and law and order situation, have been taken into account while deciding the poll schedule.
He also announced that Election Commission will distribute cards to those living in Jammu and Kashmir relief camps.
It also stated that the election expenditure monitoring included formation of flying squad, static surveillance team, video surveillance team.
"Except for one political party, most of the political parties (in Jammu and Kashmir) were in favour of holding elections on time. They said there is no reason, no justification for delaying the polls. The EC's mandate is to hold elections on time," he said.
The current six-year term of Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly comes to an end on January 16.
On whether the flood furry will have an impact on polling percentage in the state, Sampath said there was no such information. "The stake holders have told the Commission there won't be much of impact on the voter turnout," he said.
Notification for the first phase of polling in the state having 72.25 lakh voters will be issued on October 28.
The first phase of polling on November 25 will cover 15 assembly seats. These include three in Baramulla, two in Srinagar, four in Ladakh and six in Udhampur.
Nine each assembly seats in Kashmir and Jammu regions will be going to polls in the second phase on December two. Of these, maximum of six are in Udhampur, five in Baramulla, four in Anantnag and three in Jammu.
The notification for the second phase will be issued on November seven with date of polling December two.
The third phase, for which polling will be held on December 9, will cover remaining seven seats of Baramulla Parliamentary constituency, five seats in Budgam of central
Kashmir and four from Anantnag.
The fourth phase, for which notification will be issued on November 19 and polling held on December 14, will cover nine assembly seats of prestigious Srinagar city, seven remaining seats of Anantnag and two from Jammu parliamentary seat.
Five seats of Udhampur Parliamentary seat and 15 of Jammu area, covering the nine assembly seats of Jammu city, will go to polls in the final phase on December 20.
The term of the present Assembly was till January 19, next year.
The CEC said steps have been taken to ensure free and fair elections by creating an atmosphere in which each elector is able to access the polling station without being obstructed or being unduly influenced or intimidated by anybody.
As many as 10,015 polling booths will be set up for facilitating 77.25 lakh voters to exercise their franchise.
In last assembly elections held in 2008, the state had witnessed a good voter turnout of 61 per cent during seven-phased polling despite winters and decided the fate of 1354 candidates which included 517 independents.
