Why Maharashtra assembly polls are not being held with Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana? EC Explains

CEC Rajiv Kumar/ Screengrab

On Friday, the Election Commission announced dates for Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana Assembly Elections. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, who held a press conference with election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Sandhu, when asked about Maharashtra Assembly Polls said that the decision to not conduct elections in the state alongside that of Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana was made based on the requirement of forces.

CEC Kumar explained the ECI had to conduct elections for four states and they decided to divide it into groups of two and that Jammu and Kashmir would need additional deployment, hence they have not yet announced dates for Maharashtra Assembly Polls.

CEC Rajiv Kumar also noted that the state has been witnessing heavy rainfall because of which work of poll body officials is pending and there are several festivals lined up as well thus the decision was taken to not announce dates for Maharashtra Assembly Polls yet.

Speaking about the Maharashtra Assembly Polls during the press conference, he said, "Last time, Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections were held together. At that time, J&K was not a factor but this time there were four elections this year and a fifth election immediately after this, which is to start with Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi. Depending on the requirement of forces, we have decided to conduct 2 elections together...The other factor is that there was heavy rainfall in Maharashtra and there are several festivals lined up too."

CEC Kumar said that elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases starting September 18 while Haryana will go to polls in a single phase on October 1.

The EC said that voting will take place for 90 seats in the union territory on September 18, September 25 and October 1.

At the press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the votes for both legislatures will be counted on October 4.

These will be the first assembly elections in the former state since Article 370 was repealed in 2019. The last assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in November and December of 2014.