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New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar during a press conference to announce the schedule for ‘General Election to Legislative Assemblies 2024’, in New Delhi, Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (Photo: PTI)
The Election Commission (EC) on Friday announced the polling dates for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Haryana. The counting of votes in Haryana and J&K will take place on October 4.
The EC said it will announce the poll schedule for Maharashtra later. The term of the Haryana Assembly ends on November 3, and that of Maharashtra on November 26. It is for the first time since 2009 that the EC has decoupled the poll schedules for Haryana and Maharashtra. The two states had Assembly elections on the same day in 2009, 2014, and 2019.
Polling in J&K for its 90 seats will take place across three phases—on September 18, 25, and October 1—while Haryana’s 90 seats will poll on October 1.
J&K, currently a Union Territory, last saw Assembly polls (when Ladakh was also part of it) a decade ago, in November-December 2014. These will be the first Assembly elections to be held in the erstwhile state since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
In December, the Supreme Court had directed the EC to hold Assembly polls in J&K by September 30. In response to a question about the poll schedule in J&K ending on October 4, instead of the SC-prescribed deadline, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the polls in J&K are being held “well within the time period”.
Kumar said the EC had to wait for the completion of the Amarnath Yatra on August 19. The notification for the first phase of polling in J&K will be issued on August 20, a day after the Yatra concludes. “So, it is not a day here and there which is important. What is important is that we go by the spirit,” he said. Kumar added that the EC will ensure security for all candidates.
On delaying the announcement of poll dates for Maharashtra, Kumar attributed the decision to factors that included the deployment of security forces in J&K, recent rains in Maharashtra, and forthcoming festivals in the western state, such as Ganesh Chaturthi, Navaratri, and Diwali. Elections are also imminent in Jharkhand, where the term of the Assembly ends on January 5, 2025.
In 2004, Assembly polls in Maharashtra were held on October 13, while voting for the Haryana Assembly took place on February 3, 2005. However, the subsequent three Assembly polls in the two states—in 2009, 2014, and 2019—had coincided. Haryana and Maharashtra saw single-phase voting for their respective Assembly polls on October 13 in 2009, on October 15 in 2014, and on October 21 in 2019.
Political parties welcomed the announcement of Assembly polls in J&K, but with caveats. The Congress said that the recent moves by the Union government have only added to the powers of the lieutenant governor in J&K, “making a mockery of the powers of a duly elected state government”.
National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah termed the EC’s announcement as “better late than never”. “People of J&K were waiting for this day for a long time,” Abdullah said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that 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 suddenly shuffled, hours before the announcement of the polls, Kharge said.
The recent spike in terrorist incidents, particularly in the Jammu region, where 18 Army/security personnel have sacrificed their lives in 27 terror attacks since June 9, is highly disconcerting, the Congress chief said. Ladakh, which had four Assembly seats in the original J&K, will now be without any directly elected MLA, he said.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said his party had expected the EC to announce the dates for all four assemblies, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address on Thursday calling for ‘one nation, one election’. “Now if they can’t do four assemblies together, then why do they give these hollow slogans?” Khera asked.
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.
Abdullah asked the EC to note the massive transfers in the police and civil administration in the Union Territory in the last 24 hours. “We have doubts that this government is helping the BJP and its B, C, and D teams. The ECI should immediately take notice and examine them and stop those transfers which are outside their guidelines,” he said.
Abdullah, who lost the Lok Sabha polls from Anantnag, said he will consult his father and NC president Farooq Abdullah and his party colleagues on whether he would contest the Assembly polls, and a decision will be taken in a day or two. He said the NC is in talks with the Congress to work out their seat-sharing formula. He indicated that an alliance with the Peoples’ Democratic Party was difficult. The PDP and NC had fielded candidates against each other in the Lok Sabha polls.
First Published: Aug 16 2024 | 8:46 PM IST
