Owais Gul
Srinagar, Dec 31: In 2024 Jammu and Kashmir witnessed back-to-back polls and record voter turnout.
The maiden assembly elections for the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of J&K were held in September-October after a span of 10-years just 2 months after the Parliamentary polls ended.
The year 2024 commenced with hectic political activities across the country. The 18th Lok Sabha elections were announced from April 19 to June 1 in seven phases.
The Parliamentary elections, saw defeat of two former Chief Ministers of erstwhile J&K State, including National Conference (NC) Vice-President Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President, Mehbooba Mufti.
Omar was defeated by Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) chief and jailed leader Er Abdul Rashid Sheikh from Baramulla Lok Sabha constituency in North Kashmir, while Mehbooba was defeated by NC’s Mian Altaf Larvi from Rajouri-Anantnag seat.
Five candidates from across the UT including two each from NC & BJP and one from AIP won the Parliamentary polls.
Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Election Commission of India, recorded the highest voter turnout in any Lok Sabha poll in the past 35 years, with Kashmir witnessing a massive 30 points jump in election participation compared to 2019.
Assembly elections In J&K
Just two months after the Parliamentary polls ended, J&K braced up for the first Assembly elections as the Union Territory.
The Assembly polls in erstwhile J&K State were last held in 2014. The region remained without an elected government for nearly 6-years.
The Assembly polls witnessed a completely different public mood as for the first time after several decades, the people opted to give a chance to a single party—NC to form the next government in Jammu and Kashmir.
It may be recalled that in 1996 the NC had bagged 54 (excluding Leh-Ladakh and Kargil region) of 83 Assembly seats, since then, the highest number of seats won by any party were 28 in 2014 polls by the PDP.
However, this year, NC stood at number one by winning 42 seats alone and with the support of other parties and independents, the party managed to raise its tally above 50 mark to get the majority in the 90-member Assembly and formed the government in J&K.
At least 51 new Members of Legislative Assembly emerged victorious across Jammu and Kashmir while the majority among them defeated the prominent faces and top politicians associated with different political parties in the Union Territory.
Notably, the ECI had stated that a total of 63.88 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the three-phase Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir including 64.68 per cent male voters and 63.04 per cent women and 38.24 per cent third gender voters.
Later, the first-ever elected government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir took oath on October 16.
National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah, who won elections from Budgam and Ganderbal constituencies, took oath as Chief Minister, while his five colleagues were sworn in as the cabinet ministers.
After a gap of 19 days, the first Assembly session commenced on November 4, 2024. Abdur Rahim Rather was elected as the first Speaker of J&K UT’s Legislative Assembly.
During the first-session, the resolution demanding the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir special status, revoked by the Centre on August 5, 2019, was passed amid ruckus by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs in the house.
