As many as 279 candidates have filed their nomination papers across 24 Assembly Constituencies of seven districts of Jammu and Kashmir which are going to the polling in the first phase of the J-K Assembly Election 2024.
Meanwhile, Tuesday was the last day to file nomination papers for the first phase of the Assembly Election scheduled to be held on September 18, 2024.
A statement from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer detailed the candidates who have filed their nominations.
A total of 72 candidates have filed their nominations in Anantnag district, followed by 55 in Pulwama district, 41 in Doda district, 32 in Kishtwar district, 28 in Shopian district, 28 in Kulgam district, while 23 candidates have filed nominations in Ramban district.
In Jammu division, for the three ACs in Kishtwar district, a total of 13 candidates have filed nominations from 48-Inderwal AC; 11 candidates have filed nominations from 49-Kishtwar AC; while 8 candidates have filed nominations from 50-Padder-Nagseni AC.
In the three ACs in the Doda district, 16 candidates have filed nominations from 51-Bhadarwah AC; 16 candidates have filed nominations from 52-Doda AC; while 9 candidates have filed nominations from 53-Doda West AC.
For the two ACs in the Ramban district, a total of 13 candidates have filed nominations from 54 Ramban AC; while 10 candidates have filed nominations from 55-Banihal AC.
In Kashmir division, for the four ACs in Pulwama district, 16 candidates have filed nominations from 32-Pampore AC; 13 candidates have filed nominations from 33-Tral AC; 14 candidates have filed nominations from 34-Pulwama AC; while 12 candidates have filed nominations from 35-Rajpora AC.
A total of 15 candidates have filed nominations from 36-Zainapora AC; while 13 candidates have filed nominations from 37-Shopian AC in the Shopian district.
In the three ACs in Kulgam district, 6 candidates have filed nominations from 38-DH Pora AC; 11 candidates have filed nominations from 39-Kulgam AC; while 11 candidates have filed nominations from 40-Devsar AC.
For the seven ACs in Anantnag district, a total of 12 candidates have filed nomination from 41-Dooru AC; 11 candidates have filed nominations from 42-Kokernag (ST) AC; 14 candidates have filed nomination from 43-Anantnag West AC; 13 candidates have filed nomination from 44-Anantnag AC; 3 candidates have filed nomination from 45-Srigufwara-Bijbehara AC; 13 candidates have filed nomination from 46-Shangus-Anantnag East AC; while 6 candidates have filed nomination from 47-Pahalgam AC.
It may be mentioned that more than 23.27 lakh voters including 5.66 lakh youths are eligible to exercise their electoral franchise during the Phase-I of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Election, scheduled to be held on 18 September 2024, of which 11.76 lakh are male voters and 11.51 lakh female voters along with 60 Third Gender Electors.
The Notification for Phase-I was issued on 20 August 2024 and the last date for filing the nominations for Phase-I was August 27, 2024, i.e. today, till 3:00 pm.
The nomination papers will be scrutinised by the respective Returning Officers on August 28, 2024, while the candidates can withdraw their nomination papers before August 30, 2024, at 3:00 pm in the office of the Returning Officer. Thereafter, validly nominated candidates will be in the electoral fray.
The high number of nominations reflects the palpable enthusiasm in Jammu and Kashmir for the festival of democracy. 279 nominations have been received in the 24 Assembly Constituencies in Phase 1 of the upcoming assembly elections in J-K.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, while announcing the schedule for the Assembly elections had underlined that the roots of democracy are to be reinforced layer by layer in J-K, with enthusiastic involvement from parties, candidates, and voters playing a crucial role. He said that the foundations for democratic deepening laid during the 2024 General Elections in J-K will be further strengthened in the upcoming elections.
This enthusiastic participation highlights the growing democratic spirit in the region.
Notably, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections witnessed a 25 per cent rise in the number of candidates compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The assembly polls are being held in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1. The votes will be counted on October 4.