After a brief break following a long and exhaustive general election that concluded in June,
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced the Assembly election schedule for Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. Polling in Union Territory of J&K will take place in three phases – September 16, 25 and October 1 – while in Haryana voting will be held on October 1. Counting of votes for both will be on October 4. Both have 90 seats each in their assemblies.
The ECI did not give any date for Maharashtra and Jharkhand, where elections were due around the same time. Chief Election Commission Rajiv Kumar clarified that the Haryana and Maharashtra elections used to be clubbed together when J&K was not a factor.
This time, the ECI has been directed by the Supreme Court to complete polling in the Union Territory by September 30, which is why it has taken Haryana with J&K in this round. Further, Maharashtra has witnessed heavy rain and the booth-level officers are yet to complete voter verification work. Besides, festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, etc have been taken into account with regard to Maharashtra.
Byelections in 47 seats are also due – 46 for different Legislative assemblies seats for the parliamentary constituency of Wayanad that was vacated by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The CEC said the climate was not conducive at present for these byelections. He mentioned floods in Assam and Bihar and landslide tragedy in Wayanad. “Let the people recover first. We will take all bypolls together within six months,” said Kumar.
This will be the first Assembly polls in J&K after its Assembly was dissolved in 2019 after the abrogation of Article 370, taking away special status of the state, and making it a UT. This will also be the first poll in J&K in 10 years. The Congress on Friday said it has been all along demanding that elections in J&K should be held only after restoring its statehood.
“We were waiting for the weather to improve in J&K and Amarnath Yatra to end. The yatra will end on the 19th of August and on 20th the voters roll list will be published,” said CEC while announcing the schedule for J&K. He added that the ECI was encouraged by the heavy voter turnout in J&K during Lok Sabha elections.
“J&K chose a ballot instead of a bullet. People are eager to participate in this process of democracy…Duniya dekhegi napak iradon ke shikast ki kahani. People will respond to terror through votes,” CEC said.
Of J&K’s 90 seats, 74 are general, nine are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes communities and seven for the Scheduled Castes, after delimitation. There are 87.09 lakh voters out whom 3.71 lakh are first timers.
In the first phase, 24 seats will go to the polls which include Kishtwar, Ramban, Doda, Anatnag, Pulawma, Shopian and Kulgam. Ganderbal,Srinagar, Budgam, Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi are among the 26 seats going to the polls on September 25. The third phase will have Jammu, Udhampur, Samba, Kathua among 40 others.
The CEC said there are enough forces for Amarnath Yatra and sufficient forces will be sent for the polls. He added each candidate would be provided sufficient security and the security of candidates will be under ECI’s radar.
The election in J&K was pushed by the Supreme Court. The Constitutional bench of the SC had on December 11, 2023, asked the Centre to complete the process of restoration of statehood in J&K and hold elections before September 30.
Just ahead of the poll announcement, the J&K UT administration, that comes under the Centre, ordered transfer and posting of 198 IAS and J&K administration officers, raising questions on the fairness of the polls. In a surprise and swift move, the Centre had positioned Andhra Pradesh cadre IPS officer Nalin Prabhat as the next Director General of the J&K Police. His tenure will begin from October 1.
The CEC said the ECI has taken note of these transfers. “Out of all these, one SP and four DCs are main and rest in the field (not directly connected to polls). Before the Model Code of Conduct is imposed any transfer, posting can happen. However, if any matter is raised before us about fairness relating to elections directly connected with these postings, the ECI will look into it and ensure a level playing field,” said the CEC.
Haryana will vote in a single phase on October 1. The CEC said polling stations will be set up in multistoreyed housing societies in Gurgaon, Sonepat, Faridabad where a huge population resides. Haryana has 90 seats in 22 districts out of which 73 are for general, and 17 for SC. There are no ST seats here. Total voters in the state are 2.01 crore.
The CEC started the media briefing on Friday by saying, “Three Gentlemen are Back again” in response to “Lapata Gentlemen” memes circulating on social media for allegedly being absent amid the MCC violations by top leaders during campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.