Briefing about the same and furthering the convening of the critical assembly elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is all set to announce the proposed dates for assembly elections on Friday, the 16th of August, around 3 PM. While the ECI press release did not name which states will be included in the announcement, there is a high likelihood that the poll panel may first target Haryana and J & K, although Maharashtra and Jharkhand maybe later.
This presumption has been occasioned by recent movements of the Election Commission to Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana, where the team saw electoral readiness. Surprisingly, no such visit has been observed recently in Maharashtra, causing elected researchers to presume that the election calendar of this state could be different from that of the others.
The said announcement is likely to indicate particular timelines in relation to the election, such as the timelines for the presentation of nominations, the timelines for the conduct of the polls, and the timelines for the declaration of the results. The term of the Haryana legislative assembly expires on November 3, and therefore, these elections must be held early. Likewise, Jammu & Kashmir is likely to conduct assembly elections before September 30 because of the apex court’s timeline.
The people of Haryana will vote to the direct 90 members of the state assembly, of which 73 are general and 17 are SC. In Jammu & Kashmir, they will include 90 assembly seats, 74 general and 16 seats for Reserve category – ST:9, SC-7. Some 87 lakh voters of the state will be exercising their franchise, while the final roll of voters will be announced on August 20. The elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases.
The ECI has pointed out a rising trend of optimism in Jammu & Kashmir to the extent that the voters are assured of exercising the franchise in a safe environment.
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