J&K, Haryana Assembly Polls Scheduled, Voting Starts September 16
New Delhi: After a brief break following a long and exhaustive general election that ended in June, the Election Commission of India was back on Friday with a new election schedule as it got the ball rolling for the Assembly elections for Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. The polling in the Union territory of J&K will take place in three phases -- September 18, 25 and October 1 -- while in the state of Haryana it will be a single-day poll on October 1. Counting for both will be on October 4. Both have 90 seats each in their Assemblies.
The EC, however, did not give any dates for Maharashtra and Jharkhand where elections are also due around the same time. Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar clarified that earlier the Haryana and Maharashtra elections used to be clubbed together but then J&K was not a factor. This time the EC had 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. The CEC further explained that since Maharashtra has recently seen heavy rains, 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.
The byelections in 47 places are also due -- 46 for Legislative Assembly seats and one for the parliamentary constituency of Wayanad. The CEC said weather and environment was not conducive at present for these byelections. He mentioned the floods in Assam and Bihar and the landslide tragedy in Wayanad. “Let the people recover first. We will take all bypolls together within six months,” said Mr Kumar.
This will be the first Assembly polls in J&K ever since its Assembly was dissolved in 2019 after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, taking away special status of the state, and making it a UT. In fact, this will also be the first election in J&K in ten 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 the Amarnath Yatra to end. The yatra will end on August 19 and on August 20 the voters’ list will be published,” said the CEC while announcing the schedule for J&K. He added that the EC was encouraged by the heavy voter turnout in J&K during the Lok Sabha elections this year.
“J&K chose the ballot instead of the 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,” the CEC said.
J&K has 90 seats, out of which 74 are general, nine reserved for Scheduled Tribes and seven for Scheduled Castes, after delimitation. There are 87.09 lakh voters in the UT, out of which 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. The second phase will have 26 seats, which include Ganderbal, Srinagar, Budgam, Poonch, Rajouri, and Reasi. The third phase will have Jammu, Udhampur, Samba, Kathua among 40 seats going to the polls.
The CEC said there are enough forces for the Amarnath Yatra and sufficient forces will be available for the polls too. He added that each candidate will be provided sufficient security and the security of candidates will be under the EC’s radar.
The election in J&K was pushed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution Bench of the apex court had on December 11, 2023 directed the Centre to restore the process of restoration of statehood in J&K and hold elections before September 30, 2024.
However, just ahead of the poll announcement, the J&K UT administration, that comes now directly under the Centre, ordered the transfer and posting of 198 IAS and J&K administration officers, raising questions on the fairness of the polls. In fact, in a surprise and swift move, the Centre also positioned Andhra Pradesh cadre IPS officer Nalin Prabhat to J&K as the next director-general of police. His tenure, however, will begin from October 1.
The CEC said the EC has taken note of these transfers. “Out of all these, one SP and four DCs are main and the 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 the elections directly connected with these postings, the EC 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 multistoried housing societies in Gurgaon, Sonepat and 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. The total voters in the state are 2.01 crores.
Meanwhile, the CEC started the media briefing on Friday by saying: “Three Gentlemen are Back Again”. This was in response to the “Lapata Gentlemen” memes circulating on the social media for allegedly being absent amid the MCC violations by top leaders during the campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections.
