EC to announce Assembly elections dates today
Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana likely to go to polls together
EC to announce Assembly elections dates today; Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana likely to go to polls together. The term of the Haryana Assembly is ending in November and a Supreme Court judgment has stated that elections in Jammu and Kashmir has to be held by September 30, 2024. An Election Commission delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar recently visited to Jammu and Kashmir. The Election Commission (EC) announced on Friday morning that it will hold a press conference at 3 pm today to announce the schedule for “General Election to Legislative Assemblies”.Although the poll body has not specified the states, it is expected that the dates will be for Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.The term of the Haryana Assembly is ending in November and a Supreme Court judgment has stated that elections in Jammu and Kashmir has to be held by September 30, 2024. J&K has been without an elected House for five years now.In the past, at least for the last three election cycles since 2009, the EC has conducted polls in Maharashtra and Haryana together, given that their terms end within a month of each other. However, there is precedent of the EC decoupling state polls traditionally held together, and this may be the case this time too. According to media reports on Friday that the EC may schedule the J&K and Haryana elections together. The EC has visited both J&K and Haryana to review poll preparations this month. Following the visits to J&K and Haryana, a meeting was held with Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Wednesday to discuss the EC’s demand for security personnel for J&K. Given the security situation in the UT, all candidates would require security cover, leading to an increase in the requirement, sources said. The Assembly elections are also expected to see more contestants, said sources.According to sources, the EC estimates an average of 15 to 20 candidates to contest from each constituency across the UT. There are a total of 90 seats in the J&K Assembly. It is learnt that the EC has estimated that 16,000 security personnel would be required to provide security cover to all candidates.
