ELECTIONS will be held in Jammu & Kashmir after a gap of ten years along with Haryana, while Maharashtra will have to wait.
Announcing schedule for the Assembly elections here on August 16, the Election Commission of India (ECI), said the polling will be held in J&K in three phases – September 18, September 25 and October 1 – while Haryana will vote in a single phase on October 1.
The counting of votes will be held on October 4, and the results will be announced the same day. The EC said it will announce the schedule for the Maharashtra Assembly elections later. The term of the Haryana Assembly ends on November 3 and that of Maharashtra on November 26. J&K, currently a Union Territory, last saw Assembly polls (when Ladakh was also its part), a decade back, in November-December 2014.
Also, these will be the first Assembly elections on all 90 seats to be held in the erstwhile state since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 5, 2019. In December, the Supreme Court had directed the EC to hold Assembly polls in J&K by September 30.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the elections in J&K are being held “well within the time period.” “It is not a day here and there which is important. What is important is that we go by the spirit,” he said, adding that the EC will ensure security for all candidates.
On the delay in announcing poll dates for Maharashtra, Kumar said the factors included deployment of security forces in J&K, the recent rain in Maharashtra and forthcoming festivals such as Ganesh Chaturthi, Navaratri and Diwali. Elections are also imminent in Jharkhand, where the term of the Assembly ends on January 5, 2025.
Reacting to the EC announcement, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the polls will further strengthen the roots of democracy in J&K and open the doors to a new period of development for the region.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, however, said the Modi Government wants to control the revived state administration of J&K and in July it gave more powers to the LG by amending the Rules under Section 55 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019.
Now, the bureaucrats have also been shuffled, hours before the announcement of polls, he said. National Conference Vice-President Omar Abdullah termed the EC’s announcement as “better late than never”. People were waiting for this day for a long time, he said.
The former CM further said, the NC was in talks with the Congress to work out a seat-sharing formula. An alliance with PDP was difficult, he indicated.
