EC likely to hold assembly polls in J&K, Haryana together before Maharashtra and Jharkhand: Report

The assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Haryana might be held together before upcoming polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The election commission has already reviewed poll preparedness for the forthcoming assembly elections in J&K and Haryana.

Assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand are due in the next six months. The terms of the Maharashtra and Haryana Assemblies end in November, and Jharkhand’s in January next year.

Elections to Jammu and Kashmir assembly is also due after the Supreme Court set September 30, 2024 deadline for holding polls in the UT. Jammu and Kashmir has been without an elected house since 2018.

In the past, the EC conducted assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana together. Jharkhand elections were held separately. This time, however, the poll panel may hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana first and Maharashtra and Jharkhand later, according to a report in The Indian Express.

The report cites the poll panel's recent visits to Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and two Election Commissioners, Gyanesh Kumar and S S Sandhu, were in J&K on a two-day visit on August 8-9 to meet stakeholders and assess the poll preparedness. The team was in Haryana for the same purpose on August 12-13.

And as per sources, the poll panel is not scheduled to visit Maharashtra and Jharkhand any time sooner, indicating that the polls might be held later in these two states, according to The Indian Express report.

After the visits to Haryana and J&K, the poll panel had a meeting with Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on August 14 to discuss the EC’s demand for security personnel for J&K.

Both Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir assemblies have 90 seats each. 

Jammu and Kashmir has been under Central rule since June 19, 2018, following the collapse of a coalition government headed by the People’s Democratic Party’s Mehbooba Mufti after the pullout of its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). Manoj Sinha is the present Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of the UT.

Last year, during a hearing on the Article 370 abrogation case, the Supreme Court directed the poll panel to hold assembly elections in the UT by September 30, 2024.