States Assembly Elections: ECI Likely To Announce Election Dates For Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand And Jammu Kashmir Today
Election Commission to Announce Maharashtra, Jharkhand Poll Dates Today at 3:30 PM
The Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to reveal the schedule for upcoming assembly elections in a press conference at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan on Friday, August 16, at 3 PM. The announcement will include details for several states and territories, though the specific locations were not disclosed in the media invitation. Key elections are looming in Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir. The legislative assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra will end their terms on November 3 and November 26, respectively. Jharkhand’s assembly is due for elections by January 2025. Additionally, the ECI aims to conduct elections in Jammu and Kashmir before the Supreme Court’s September 30 deadline.
Jammu and Kashmir, in particular, is expected to experience its first assembly election since 2014. Following the revocation of Article 370 in 2019 and the subsequent bifurcation of the region into Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, assembly polls were postponed for various reasons, including the completion of a delimitation exercise in 2022.
The ECI has recently assessed the election readiness in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, although Maharashtra remains to be inspected. Recently, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar led a delegation to review election preparations in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana, although Maharashtra remains unvisited. During his visit to Jammu, Kumar stated, “We are committed to conducting polls in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest, and we will not let any internal or external forces derail the election. All political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are batting strongly for holding assembly elections as soon as possible.”
